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liiii 

RULE  IN  GASCONY 
1199-1259   '1 


MARSH 


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LIBRARY 

UNivE«9«nr  o»- 

CALIFORNIA 
SAN  OIC&O  I 


University  of  Michigan 
HISTORICAL    STUDIES 

PUBLISHED   UNDER   THE    DIRECTION   OF   THE 
DEPARTMENT   OF    HISTORY 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


ENGLISH 

RULE   IN  GASCONY 


1199-1259 


WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE  TOWNS 


By 

FRANK  BURR  MARSH,  Ph.D. 

INSTRUCTOR      IN      HISTORY,      UNIVERSITY      OF     TEXAS 


ANN    ARBOR,    MICHIGAN 

GEORGE)  WAHR 
1912 


Copyright,  1913 

By 

FRANK  BURR  MARSH 


rRINTIRB 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

In  its  original  form  this  study  was  presented  in  partial  fulfilment 
of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  at  the 
University  of  Michigan.  It  has  since  been  considerably  extended 
and  much  recast,  owing  to  the  appearance  of  additional  volumes  in 
the  Rolls  series. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Professor  E.  W.  Dow  and  Professor  A. 
L.  Cross  of  the  University  of  Michigan  for  much  invaluable  assist- 
ance. 

Frank  B.  Marsh 
Austin,  Texas 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 


CHAPTER  I 

JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS 

Death  of  Richard.  Disputed  succession.  Attitude  of  the  Gascon  towns 
and  policy  of  John.  Claims  of  Castile.  Attack  of  Philip  on  Poitou 
and  of  Alfonso  on  Gascony.  Attitude  of  the  towns.  Privileges  and 
concessions   granted   by  John.  .......         I 

CHAPTER  n 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  HENRY  III,  1216-1220 

Difficulties  of  the  English  government  after  the  death  of  John.  First 
measures  of  the  regency.  Bankruptcy  of  the  government.  Dangers 
in  Gascony.  Weakness  of  the  seneschal.  Anarchy  in  Gascony  and 
Poitou.  Marriage  of  Isabella.  Quarrel  with  Hugh  of  La  Marche. 
Attempts  of  towns  and  church  to  maintain  peace.  Position  of  towns 
as  supporters  of  the  royal  power.  Concessions  to  them.  Danger  in 
France .  .  .  .18 

CHAPTER  HI 

THE  ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIH,  1221-1227 

Continued  Anarch}-  in  Gascony  and  Poitou.  Accession  of  Louis  VIII. 
He  renews  the  war.  Conquest  of  Poitou.  Attitude  of  the  towns. 
Concessions  to  the  towns.  Attack  on  Gascony.  Bordeaux  checks 
the  French  advance.  Castles  intrusted  to  the  towns.  Expedition  of 
Richard  of  Cornwall.  Recover}^  of  Gascony.  Failure  in  Poitou. 
Part  played  by  the  towns  in  the   campaigns.  •         •         •         ■       35 


vi  E.XGLISII  RULE  IX  G.ISCOXY 

CHAPTER  IV 

GASCOXY  I\  l227-\2^o  AND  HF.XRVS  FIRST  EXPEDITION 
AGAIXST    rOlTOU 

Administration  of  Henry  de  Trublcvillc.  His  relations  with  the  nobles 
and  the  towns.  Parties  in  the  towns,  their  origin  and  character. 
E.xpcdition  of  Henry  against  Poitou,  in  1230.  Support  given  by  the 
towns,     military     and     financial.         .  .....       56 

CHAPTER  V 

PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS 

Condition  of  the  province.  Vivona  as  seneschal.  Difficulties  of  his 
position.  Colombines  in  power  at  Bordeaux.  Trubleville  restored  as 
seneschal.  Collision  with  the  Colombines  at  Bordeaux.  Soler  party 
restored  to  power  there.  Increased  tranquillity.  Dependence  of  the 
government  on  the  townspeople  in  time  of  peace.  ...       70 

CHAPTER  VI 

HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  POITOU,  1242 

Henry  renews  the  war  with  France.  Defeat  at  Taillcbourg.  Financial 
and  military  aid  given  by  the  towns  during  the  campaign.  Conces- 
sions to  the  townspeople.  Loans  of  the  Colombines  to  the  king. 
They  regain  power  in  Bordeaux.  Henr>'  remains  in  Gascony.  Con- 
tinued loans  by  townspeople.  .......       86 

CHAPTER  VII 

MUNICIPAL  CHANGES  AT  DAX  AND  BAYONNE,  1243 

Henry  makes  a  tour  of  the  south.  Measures  at  Bayonne.  Names  the 
hundred  peers.  Reasons  for  this  step.  Reorganizes  the  commune  at 
Dax.     Character  and  causes  of  this  measure.  ....     103 

CHAPTER  \'III 

THE  DICTATORSHIP  OF  SIMON  DE  MONTFORT,  1248-1254 

Continued  disorder  in  Gascony.  Montfort  despatched  as  dictator. 
Harsh  conduct  toward  the  nobles.  Policy  toward  the  towns.  Character 
of  the  municipal  parties.  Montfort  supports  popular  party.  Riot  at 
Bordeaux.  Proscription  of  the  Solers.  Policy  in  other  towns. 
Revolts  of  nobles  and  proscribed  burghers.  Complaints  to  Henry. 
Henry  abandons  Montfort.  Renewed  pretensions  of  Castile.  .-Xnarchy 
in  Gascony  following  Montfort's  removal.         .         .         .  .Ill 


CONTENTS  vii 

CHAPTER  IX 
THE  ALFONIST  REVOLT,  1254-1255 

Alfonso  claims  Gascony.  Peril  to  the  English  rule.  Revolt  of  the  Gas- 
cons. Attitude  of  the  towns.  Successful  campaign  of  Henry.  Sup- 
port given  him  by  the  towns.  Privileges  to  citizens.  Treaty  with 
Alfonso.  Restores  peace  in  Bordeaux  and  other  towns.  Treaty 
with  France.  .  .  .  .  ......     136 

Conclusion  152 

List  of  Mayors  of  Bordeaux 157 

Bibliography 159 

Index 167 


INTRODUCTION 

The  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century  witnessed  the  rise  of  the 
house  of  Anjou  to  a  position  of  great  outward  splendor  and  widely 
extended  dominion.  By  a  series  of  fortunate  marriages,  inheritances 
and  conquests  Henry  II  became  the  ruler  not  only  of  England  but 
of  a  large  part  of  France.  During  his  lifetime  and  that  of  his  son 
Richard,  this  empire  resisted  all  the  efforts  of  the  Capetians  for  its 
destruction.  In  the  reign  of  John,  however,  it  gave  way.  Gaining 
a  pretext  under  the  feudal  law,  Philip  Augustus  declared  John  to 
have  forfeited  all  his  French  fiefs  and  forthwith  set  about  the  task 
of  dispossessing  him  of  them.  In  no  long  time  John  had  been 
driven  out  of  all  his  northern  possessions ;  but  in  the  south  he  was 
successful  in  resisting  the  French  monarch's  advance.  Neither  side 
had,  therefore,  been  entirely  successful.  The  English  king  had  lost 
the  north  and  the  French  king  had  not  gained  the  south.  For  more 
than  fifty  years  following  the  death  of  John  each  side  made  vain 
attempts  to  realize  its  entire  ambition,  yet  the  situation  remained 
substantially  the  same  ;  the  English  king  could  not  regain  the  northern 
fiefs,  nor  could  the  French  expel  the  English  from  the  south.  At 
length  in  1259  Louis  IX  accepted  these  results  and  signed  a  treaty 
recognizing  the  continued  sovereignty  of  the  English  king  in  Gas- 
cony. 

At  first  sight  it  might  seem  that  the  territories  which  the 
Plantagenets  retained  were  those  on  which  they  had  the  weakest 
hold.     Normandv  had  been  united  with  the  English  crown  much 


X  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

longer  than  Gascony ;  the  Norman  and  the  English  baronage  had 
been  closely  allied  since  the  days  of  the  Conqueror;  and  the  control 
of  the  central  government  had  been  much  better  organized  and  firmer 
in  the  north  than  in  the  south.  Yet  Normandy  was  conquered  by 
the  French,  who  nevertheless  failed  in  repeated  attempts  to  win 
Gascony. 

The  explanations  of  this  fact  which  have  been  oflfered  do  not 
seem  wholly  satisfactory.  It  is  true  that  the  people  of  the  south 
felt  little  sympathy  for  those  of  the  north,  and  that  a  wide  difference 
in  temperament,  speech,  manners  and  culture  existed  between  them. 
To  the  Gascon  the  Norman  and  Parisian  seemed  aliens  and  foreisn- 
ers ;  but  w^as  not  this  true  in  a  greater  degree  of  the  Englishman  ? 
The  personal  influence  of  John's  mother  Eleanor  certainly  counted 
for  much,  representing  as  she  did  the  old  line  of  the  dukes  of  Aqui- 
taine,  but  Henry  III  was  equally  successful  in  maintaining  his  author- 
ity against  the  French  and  this  at  a  time  when  Eleanor  was  but  a 
memory.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  restless  and  turbulent  Gascon 
lords  preferred  the  distant  and  feeble  king  of  England  to  the  king  of 
France,  powerful  and  near  at  hand.  Gascony  had  however  a  third 
claimant  in  the  king  of  Castile,  who  though  only  across  the  Pyre- 
nees was  too  much  occupied  in  Spain  to  be  likely  to  govern  strongly 
in  any  part  of  France.  Why  should  he  not  have  been  considered 
an  equally  convenient  overlord?  So  indeed  he  was  by  at  least  a 
large  number  of  the  Gascon  nobles,  who  supported  an  attempt  to  en- 
force his  claims.  It  has  likewise  been  pointed  out  that  there  were 
strong  commercial  ties  binding  the  Gascon  towns  to  England.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  Gascon  wine  found  a  ready  market  across  the  channel 
and  the  desire  to  retain  that  market  would  tend  strongly  to  keep  the 
citizens  of  Bordeaux  and  Bayonne  loyal  to  the  English  crown.  Yet, 
after  all,  in  what  way  and  to  what  degree  did  such  ties  exist?  How 
much  and  what  sort  of  a  role  did  the  towns  have  in  maintaining  Eng- 
lish rule  in  Gasconv? 


INTRODUCTION 


XI 


It  is  especially  to  this  last  side  of  the  problem  that  the  following 
study  is  devoted.  The  aim  here  then  is  to  trace  in  detail  the  rule 
of  the  Ent^lish  government  in  southwestern  France  so  far  as  it 
affected  or  dealt  with  the  townspeople,  and  to  see  what  was  their 
attitude  toward  it,  and  what  part  they  played  in  its  maintenance. 
The  feudal  nobility  will  be  dealt  with  only  incidentally.  In  point  of 
time  that  period  only  will  be  treated  when  the  continuance  of  English 
authority  was  most  seriously  in  question.  This  will  give  as  limits 
the  years  1 199  and  1259.  The  death  of  Richard,  in  the  former,  marks 
the  disruption  of  the  Angevin  empire.  From  the  time  of  John's 
accession  Gascony  was  menaced  on  the  one  side  by  France  and  on 
the  other  by  Castile.  Throughout  the  earlier  part  of  Henry's  reign 
the  English  supremacy  was  almost  continually  threatened.  It  was 
not  until  the  treaty  with  Alfonso  X  in  1254  had  removed  him  from 
the  contest,  and  the  treaty  with  Louis  IX  in  1259  had  settled  the 
French  claims  that  the  English  could  be  said  to  have  enjoyed  an 
authority  undisputed  by  the  neighboring  monarchs.^ 

^  In  the  following  study  the  term  Gascony  has  been  somewhat  looselyw 
used  to  designate  the  possessions  of  the  English  king  in  southern  France. 
In  strictness  these  possessions  consisted,  after  the  losses  of  John,  of  the 
duchy  of  Gascony  proper  and  certain  portions  of  Poitou. 


CHAPTER  I 

JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS 

Death  of  Richard.  Disputed  succession.  Attitude  of  the  Gascon  towns  and 
policy  of  John.  Gaims  of  Castile.  Attack  of  Philip  on  Poitou  and  of 
Alfonso  on  Gascony.  Attitude  of  the  towns.  Privileges  and  concessions 
granted  by  John. 

The  death  of  Richard  shook  the  ill-compacted  Angevin  empire  to  its 
foundations.  Not  only  did  it  place  upon  the  throne  one  unable  to 
hold  iiis  own  in  the  perpetual  struggle  with  Philip  Augustus,  but  it 
raised  immediately  a  question  of  succession.  Richard  being  dead, 
should  the  crown  pass  to  John  or  to  Arthur?  This  was  the  problem 
which  pressed  for  solution.  Richard,  himself,  had  on  his  deathbed 
recognized  John  as  his  successor,^  and  this  seems  to  have  secured 
him  the  support  of  the  ruling  officials.^  John's  claims  were  also 
supported  by  his  mother  Eleanor,  whose  rights  in  Aquitaine  none 
could  dispute.  So  England  obeyed  the  royal  officers  and  Aquitaine 
followed  the  duchess  and  accepted  John  without  serious  question ; 
but  Anjou,  Maine,  Touraine  and  Brittany  declared  for  Arthur, 
who  had,  moreover,  the  powerful  support  of  John's  ever- watchful 
antagonist  Philip  II.  John,  who  was  in  Brittany  at  the  time  of 
Richard's  death,  hastened  north  to  secure  Normandy  and  England, 
leaving  his  mother  to  hold  the  south  for  him.  In  the  midst  of  this 
crisis  the  obvious  policy,  for  both  John  and  his  mother,  was  to  be 

*  Ramsay.  A}igcfin  Empire,  365. 
'Ibid.,  378. 


2  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

conciliatory,  to  seek  to  win  as  much  support  as  possible  in  the  regions 
which  John  sought  to  rule. 

In  Gascony  the  reigns  of  Henry  II  and  Richard  had,  apparently, 
seen  a  considerable  development  in  the  prosperity  and  power  of  the 
towns.  To  Henry,  indeed,  has  been  attributed  the  grant  of  a  char- 
ter to  the  commune  of  Bordeaux  in  1173.  Though  this  is  almost 
certainly  a  mistake,^  there  is  little  doubt  that  a  commune  developed 
there  during  his  reign,  apparently  without  opposition ;  for  it  was 
certainly  in  existence  by  the  death  of  Richard.  The  same  thing  may 
also  be  said  of  Bayonne,  which  not  only  developed  a  communal  or- 
ganization but  secured  various  commercial  privileges.  These  go 
back  to  the  time  of  William  IX,  last  independent  Duke  of  Aquitaine, 
but  were  confirmed  and  extended  by  Richard.*  At  Dax  Richard  had 
suppressed  the  authority  of  the  viscount  and  substituted  a  govern- 
ment of  a  capdel  and  twenty  justiciars.^  He  also  granted  to  the 
citizens  freedom  from  all  dues  {de  oiiinimoda  consuetiidine) 
throughout  Poitou,  Aquitaine  and  Gascony,^  a  privilege  which  would 
seem  to  be  merely  a  repetition  of  one  accorded  to  Bayonne.  Thus, 
by  the  time  of  John's  accession  the  towns  had  made  sufficient  pro- 
gress to  be  a  factor  of  importance  among  the  political  forces  with 
wdiich  the  king  had  to  reckon. 

*  The  existence  of  this  charter  rests  w'holly  on  a  statement  of  de  Lurbe 
in  his  Chroniqiic  bonrdeloise,  15.  It  has  been  fully  shown,  however,  that  here 
de  Lurbe  has  attributed  a  charter  of  Henry  III  to  Henry  II :  see  Sansas, 
Memoires  sur  les  Origines  municipales  de  Bordeaux  (published  in  the  Actes 
de  I'Academie  de  Bordeaux,  23*  Annee),  and  Rabanis,  Administration  tnu- 
nicipale  et  institutions  judiciares  de  Bordeaux  pendant  le  moyen  age,  in  the 
Revue  Historique  de  Droit  Franqais  et  Stranger,  VII   (1861). 

*  See  Giry,  Stablissements  de  Rouen,  I,  103-5.  Balasque  has  published 
Richard's  charters  in  his  Etudes  sur  Bayonne. 

"  Abbadie,  Le  Livre  noir  de  Dax,  xxiii ;  Duforcet,  in  tlhe  Bull,  de  la  soc. 
Borda,  I,  456.  Duforcet  finds  a  mayor  at  Dax  with  the  title  of  capdel  as 
early  as  1189  {Bull,  de  la  soc.  Borda,  I,  458). 

*  Le  Livre  noir,  178.     The  document  occurs  in  a  vidimus  of  1294. 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS  3 

The  feudal  nobles  of  the  south  were  always  a  turbulent  and  law- 
less body  and  both  Henry  II  and  Richard  had  been  forced  to  fight 
vigorously  against  them.  It  was,  perhaps,  in  the  midst  of  these 
struggles  that  the  communes  had  been  founded,  and  possibly  the  kings 
had  favored  them  with  the  deliberate  aim  of  creating  some  counter- 
poise to  the  feudality,  lay  or  ecclesiastical.  Though  the  nobles 
showed  little  disposition  to  favor  the  cause  of  Arthur,  we  can  scarcely 
suppose  them  wholly  passive  spectators,  especially  when,  it  would 
seem,  the  church  set  them  an  example  of  lawlessness.  At  a  later 
date,  at  any  rate,  serious  charges  relating  to  this  time  were  brought 
against  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  and  in  1204  Innocent  III  ordered 
an  investigation  of  the  accusation  that  on  the  death  of  Richard  this 
eminent  churchman  had  seized  the  fortified  places,  prevented  the  in- 
habitants from  leaving,  and  committed  many  grievous  crimes."  These 
charges  would  seem^  to  have  considerable  justification,  and  we  may 
well  believe  that  the  example  of  an  archbishop  who  allied  himself 
with  the  mercenary  troops  and  allowed  them  to  ransom  the  clergy 
was  but  too  well  imitated  by  the  lay  nobility.  In  any  case,  it  was  not 
a  favorable  moment  for  an  energetic  policy  toward  the  nobles,  who 
do  not  seem  to  have  openly  questioned  Eleanor's  authority  or  John's 
succession.  The  wisest  course  must  have  seemed  to  rest  content 
with  that  for  the  moment  and  to  attempt  to  secure  a  more  stable 
support  in  the  rising  municipalities. 

The  towns,  apparently,  saw  their  opportunity  for  the  crisis  was 
fruitful  of  concessions.  At  La  Rochelle  all  the  liberties  of  the  com- 
mune were  confirmed."  Niort,  St.  Jean-d'Angely  and  Oleron  receiv- 
ed communal  charters,  some  of  them,  perhaps,  for  the  first  time.^" 

^Calendar  of  Papal  Registers:    Papal  Letters,  I,  16. 

'From  the  picture  of  the  archbishop's  cond/uct,  drawn  by  Richard,  His- 
toire  des  Comtes  de  Poitou,  II,  446. 
"  Giry,  £tab.,  I,  68. 
^^  Ibid.,  89,  239,  294. 


4  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

At  Saintes  the  commune  was  not  only  confirmed  but  the  fitablisse- 
ments  of  Rouen,  then  in  force  at  La  Rochelle,  were  extended  to  it.^^ 
In  Gascony,  also,  extensive  favors  were  granted.  Thus  one  of  the 
first  acts  of  Eleanor  was  to  issue  a  charter  suppressing  certain  duties 
levied  by  Richard  at  Bordeaux.'^^  This  concession  to  the  merchants — 
for  so  we  must  regard  it — John  confirmed  from  England/^  On  the 
same  day  he  also  confirmed  another  grant  of  Eleanor's  by  which  she 
had  declared  that  a  mint  should  be  maintained  at  Bordeaux.^*  In 
addition  to  such  concessions  to  the  commune  John  conferred  upon 
Elias  Viger,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Bordeaux,  a  placia  in  that  city, 
adjoining  one  which  king  Richard  had  given  to  his  two  brothers. 
Likewise  the  king  took  the  burgher  and  his  goods  under  the  royal 
protection  and  gave  him  commercial  privileges  in  Poitou.^^  At  St. 
fimilion  the  citizens  received  a  charter  confirming  their  commune 
with  all  its  rights  and  liberties.^"  At  Dax,  if  we  may  trust  the  chroni- 
cler, John  confirmed  all  privileges.^''  At  Bayonne  he  granted  a  rev- 
enue of  50  pounds  a  year  to  Vitalus  de  Viele,  to  be  paid  from  dues  on 
whales.^^  Such  favors,  it  would  seem,  helped  John  through  the 
crisis  over  the  Angevin  inheritance.  His  success  was  'for  the 
moment  complete,  Gascony  was  quiet,  passively  loyal  at  least.  Nor- 
mandy and  England  recognized  him  without  serious  opposition  ;  after 
some  desultor}  fighting  even  the  feifs  that  had  declared  for  Arthur 
submitted,  and  Philip,  accepting  the  failure  of  his  designs,  consented 
to  a  treaty  which  recognized  John  as  heir  to  all  the  territories  of 
Richard. 

"  Ibid.,  8s. 

^'  Livre  des  contumes,  437. 

^  Rotnli  Chartarum,  4b. 

"  Ibid. 

"  Ibid. 

"  Guadet,  St.  Rmilion,  212.    The  charter  is  contained  in  a  Vidimus  of  1340. 

"  Compaigne,  Chronique  de  la  z'ille  de  Da.v,  11. 

"  Balasque,  Etudes,  I,  450.     Delpit,  Notice,  125,  note  i. 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS  5 

John's  difficulties,  however,  were  by  no  means  at  an  end.  Philip 
had  recog-nized  him  for  the  moment  but  was  far  from  having  aban- 
doned projects  of  expansion  at  his  expense.  There  is  no  need  here 
to  trace  in  detail  the  impolitic  actions  by  which  John  drove  the 
Poitevin  lords  to  appeal  to  Philip,  nor  the  judicial  proceedings  by 
which,  in  1202,  Philip  declared  John's  feifs  on  the  continent  forfeit- 
ed to  the  French  crown.  As  a  result  of  these  developments  John 
was  assailed  on  two  sides  at  once,  by  Philip  in  the  north  and  by 
Castile  in  the  south.  The  trouble  with  France  was  simply  a  new 
phase  of  the  old  rivalry  between  the  Capetians  and  the  Plantagenets. 
That  with  Castile  sprang  from  one  of  the  many  royal  intermarriages. 
Alfonse  VIII  of  that  country  had  married  Eleanor,  a  sister  of  John, 
and  now,  doubtless  emboldened  by  John's  entanglement  with  France, 
advanced  a  claim  to  Gascony,  which  he  declared  had  been  promised 
him  by  Henry  II  as  a  dowry.^®  John  not  unnaturally  refused  to 
concede  any  such  claim,  and,  to  counterbalance  Alfonso's  intrigue 
in  the  south,  he  concluded  a  treaty  with  Navarre,  and  attempted  to 
injure  his  rival  by  commanding  the  citizens  of  Bayonne  to  abstain 
from  all  business  dealings  with  the  Castilians.^^  Thus  in  1202  John 
had  before  him  the  task  of  defending  himself  at  the  same  time  in  both 
the  north  and  the  south,  against  both  Alfonso  of  Castile  and  Philip 
of  France. 

Of  the  two  enemies  the  most  formidable  and  successful  was 
Philip,  who  by  a  vigorous  and  rapid  campaign  stripped  John  of 
his  northern  territories.  To  the  victorious  advance  of  the  French 
king  John  offered  little  opposition ;  his  forces  were  soon  expelled 
from  Anjou,  Maine  and  Normandy.  The  weakness  of  the  defense 
may  have  been  due  in  part  to  John's  insecure  position  in  Gascony. 
That  many  of  the  southern  nobles  favored  Alfonso  was  shortly  to  be 
made  plainly  evident,  and  John  may  very  well  have  had  a  perception 

"  Abbadie,  Litre  noir,  xxiv. 
'"'Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  127. 


6  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

of  the  fact.  But  although  he  did  not  take  the  field  against  his  foes 
with  energy,  he  showered  concessions  on  the  towns.  Evidently  the 
less  he  could  depend  upon  the  nobles  the  more  necessary  it  became 
to  gain  the  burghers.  To  the  citizens  of  Dax  he  granted,  with  praises 
for  their  loyalty,  the  right  to  carry  on  commerce  in  his  dominions 
freely  and  without  hindrance  upon  the  payment  of  the  customary 
dues.-^  In  Bordeaux  John  gave  his  royal  protection  to  the  person  and 
merchandise  of  EHas  Viger,  and  added  to  this  the  special  privilege  of 
carrying  300  tonelli  of  wine  to  any  part  of  his  dominion,  by  land  or 
by  sea,  free  from  all  duties  saving  only  the  liberties  of  London.^' 
That  the  Vigers  were  an  influential  family  at  Bordeaux  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  and  the  concessions  to  EHas  look  very  like  an  attempt  to 
keep  the  town  loyal  by  conciliating  prominent  citizens,  doubtless  those 
powerful  in  the  commune.  Apparently  following  this  same  policy, 
John  granted  favors  to  another  influential  family.  On  June  23  he 
gave  to  William  Raymond  Colom  and  his  brother  Amaneus  the  right, 
upon  the  payment  of  the  proper  dues,  to  travel  and  transact  business 
throughout  his  dominion.  Further  than  this  he  conceded  to  William 
the  right  to  carry  one  shipload  of  wine  or  salt  to  any  part  of  his 
territories  free  from  all  royal  duties,  a  privilege  which  was  to  hold 
good  for  four  years. ^'^  It  was  doubtless  an  extension  of  the  same 
policy  to  other  towns  that  led  John  to  grant  letters  of  protection  to 
Marcus  Sturmin,-*  merchant  of  St.  fimilion,  as  well  as  to  Raymond 

"""■Rot.  Hit.  pat.,  5b. 

^^  Rot.  chartarum,  112  b. 

''^  Rot.  litt.  pat.,  31.  The  family  name  of  the  brothers  is  not  given  in  the 
document;  they  are  designated  simply  as  William  Raymond  and  Amaneus 
Ihis  brother.  Since,  however,  we  know  that  in  Bordeaux  there  was  a  William 
Raymond  Colom  who  had  a  brother  Amaneus  and  that  they  were  wine  mer- 
clhants,  the  identification  is  not  difficult.  The  Coloms  were,  as  we  shall  abun- 
dantly see,  a  very  powerful  and  wealthy  family  and  destined  to  play  a  great 
part  in  the  affairs  of  Bordeaux  (see  Close  Rolls,  1227-1231,  p.  142). 

''^Rot.  litt.  pat.,  25. 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS  7 

de  Pins  and  his  son  Senebrunnus,  who  appear  to  have  been  mer- 
chants of  La  Reole.^^ 

By  these  concessions  John  seemed  striving  to  win  the  towns  to 
his  support.  In  the  next  year  their  loyahy  was  put  to  a  decided 
test.  Philip,  having-  conquered  Normandy,  now  turned  southward 
and  formed  a  combination  with  Alfonso  of  Castile.-^  The  Spaniard 
was  to  seize  Gascony  while  Philip  took  Poitou. 

The  French  king's  part  of  the  bargain  was  loyally  fulfilled. 
Poitou  was  easily  and  swiftly  taken.  Some  even  of  John's  newly 
chartered  communes,  such  as  St.  Jean-d'Angely,  turned  against  him 
at  the  critical  moment  and  went  over  to  Philip.-^  The  nobles,  or  at 
least  some  of  the  more  important  of  them,  as  the  viscount  of  Thouars, 
w^ere  won  over  to  the  French  cause.^^  In  spite  of  the  favorable  re- 
ception which  Philip  received,  he  did  not  advance  beyond  Poitou, 
perhaps  because  of  his  engagements  with  Alfonso,  perhaps  because 
in  Gascony  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  having  gathered  a  consid- 
erable force,  stood  loyal  to  England. ^^ 

If  John  did  little  in  the  field  to  oppose  his  rival,  he  continued 
his  favors  to  Elias  Viger,  conferring  on  him  an  estate  at  Beggles 
which  Richard  had  given  to  a  man  named  Chitre.  The  ambitious 
burgher,  wrongly  representing  Chitre  as  dead,  induced  the  king  to 
transfer  the  estate  to  him  as  a  hereditary  possession,  for  which  he 
was  to  pay  a  sore-hawk  annually.^"  Nor  did  John  interfere  when 
the  citizens  of  Bayonne  negotiated  a  commercial  treaty  with  Sancho 
of   Navarre   by   which   they   secured    full    right   to   trade   in   that 

""  Ibid.,  2,2,. 

"  Balasque,  &tudes,  I,  320-2.     Richard.  Histoire  des  comtes  de  Poitou, 

II,  454- 

"  Giry,  &tab.,  I,  294. 

"^  Richard,  Histoire,  II,  452. 

^°  Ibid.,  454. 

^'' Rot.  chartarum,  135. 


8  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

kingdom.^^  Perhaps  he  was  wiUing  enough  to  see  the  city  bound  by 
close  commercial  ties  to  his  ally  against  Castile. 

The  following  year,  1205,  might  seem  a  crisis  in  the  fate  of 
John's  continental  possessions.  Philip  reduced  all  of  Poitou  except 
Niort  and  La  Rochelle^^  and  Alfonso  invaded  Gascony.  The  chief 
support  of  the  English  cause  was,  as  has  been  indicated,  the  arch- 
bishop of  Bordeaux,  Helie  de  Malmort.  Acting  for  the  king,  he  had 
assembled  troops  in  the  south  and  established  himself  firmly  at  Bor- 
deaux. In  June  of  1204  he  had  gone  to  England  to  arrange  measures 
of  defense  with  the  king  and  John  had  granted  him  a  subsidy  of 
28,000  marks  of  silver.  With  this  support  his  brother,  who  was  in 
actual  command  of  the  troops,  continued  to  augment  his  force  of 
mercenaries  while  the  archbishop  himself  remained  in  England  as 
a  hostage.'^^  Yet  while  thus  endeavoring  to  strengthen  his  army 
John  did  not  abandon  his  policy  of  granting  favors  to  the  towns- 
people, and  accorded  privileges  to  Oleron  and  La  Rochelle,  perhaps 
as  a  means  of  holding  them  against  the  French.^* 

The  chief  danger  for  the  moment  came  from  the  side  of  Castile. 
Alfonso's  attempt  on  Gascony  had  been  well  prepared  and  a  charter 
of  October  25,  1204,  affords  us  a  glimpse  of  the  intrigues  he  was 
carrying  on  behind  the  scenes.  The  charter  in  question  was  drawn 
up  at  San  Sebastian  and  is  dated  in  Spanish  style.  It  contains  a  gift 
of  certain  serfs  to  the  bishop  of  Dax  and  is  witnessed  by  the  bishop 
of  Bayonne,  the  count  of  Armagnac,  the  viscounts  of  Beam,  Tartas, 
and  Orthez.^^  This  gift,  thus  witnessed  in  Spain,  would  indicate 
that  the  leading  seigneurs  of  the  south,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as 

='  Giry,  &tah.,  Pieces,  II,  7()- 

*^  Norgate,  John  Lackland,  113  and  also  note  6. 

""Richard,  Histoire,  II,  445-48.  However,  Davis,  England  under  Nor- 
mans and  Angevins,  345,  regards  the  amount  (given  by  Coggeshall)  as  pre- 
posterous. 

'*Giry,  &tab.,  I,  69,  90. 

^°  Balasque,  Etudes,  I,  321. 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS  9 

secular,  were  prepared  to  support  Alfonso.  He,  therefore,  had  little 
to  fear  from  them  when,  in  1205,  he  crossed  the  border. 

Once  in  Gascony  the  Spaniard  turned  his  attention  first  to  Bay- 
onne.  The  bishop  favored  him ;  but  the  burghers  closed  the  gates  of 
their  city  and  remained  loyal  to  the  English  king.  Turning  aside 
from  Bayonne,  Alfonso  found  a  welcome  in  Beam  and  thence  pro- 
ceeded north  in  triumph  till  he  reached  La  Reole,  where  he  again 
found  the  city  true  to  John.  Learning  that  Bordeaux  would  take 
the  same  attitude,  he  advanced  no  farther,  but  after  some  delay,  re- 
crossed  the  Pyrenees,  having  ranged  under  him — if  we  may  trust 
Balasque's  version  of  a  Spanish  chronicler — all  Gascony  except 
Bordeaux,  La  Reole  and  Bayonne. 

The  Spanish  success,  however,  was  as  transitory  as  it  was  easy. 
The  next  year  (1206)  John  took  the  field  in  person  with  such  forces 
as  he  could  muster,'*'  and  attempted  to  regain  the  ground  that  had 
been  lost.  It  was  soon  evident  that  Alfonso's  conquest  had  no  solid 
foundation.  The  chief  communes  were  loyal  to  John  and  some  of 
the  nobles  now  rallied  to  his  cause.^^  Of  the  rest  even  those  who  had 
welcomed  the  Spaniard  were  little  disposed  to  fight  for  him,  and  he 
himself  seems  to  have  done  little  to  support  his  cause,  John  was 
therefore  able  to  crush  the  opposition  in  Gascony,  to  regain  some  of 
the  lost  ground,  and  to  conclude  with  Philip  a  truce  leaving  what 
he  had  thus  retaken  in  his  hands.^* 

In  this  struggle  the  attitude  of  the  towns  was  clearly  of  great  im- 
portance to  John.  Had  they  yielded  to  the  Spaniard  any  attempt 
at  reconquest  would  have  been  enormously  more  difficult.  While 
they  remained  loyal  not  only  were  they  a  center  round 
which  John's  partisans  could  rally  but  they  rendered  it  an  easy  mat- 
ter to  land  troops  at  any  time  within  the  province.     The  conduct  of 

"  Norgate,  John  Lackland,  114. 
'^bid.,  1 16-17. 


lo  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

the  king  showed  that  he  was  well  aware  of  their  importance  and 
meant  to  keep  them  loyal  to  himself  if  possible.  Threatened  by 
France  and  Spain  at  once  he  granted  new  concessions.  One  might 
almost  trace  the  progress  of  the  invaders  by  the  letters  patent  of 
John.  It  was,  indeed,  no  more  than  a  continuation  of  the  policy 
he  had  followed  from  the  beginning  of  his  reign. 

Among  the  concessions  granted  during  the  pressure  of  the  double 
peril  we  may  note  the  following.  At  Bayonne  he  issued  letters 
patent  taking  the  citizens  under  his  royal  protection  and  granting 
them  the  right  to  come  and  go  as  they  would  in  his  dominions  and  to 
transact  business  anywhere  upon  the  payment  of  the  proper  dues.^^ 
He  further  took  the  persons  and  property  of  two  Bayonnese  mer- 
chants**^ under  his  special  protection,  and  paid  certain  debts  to  the 
sailors  of  that  town.*^  At  Bordeaux  he  granted  more  extensive 
privileges.  First  he  accorded  to  his  faithful  and  well  beloved  citizens 
(dilectis  et  Udelihiis  nostris  prohis  hominihtis  nostris,  etc.)  exemption 
from  all  royal  dues  for  their  merchandise  both  at  Bordeaux  itself 
and  throughout  the  region  of  the  Gironde.*^  He  also,  at  the  request 
of  the  citizens,  made  or  sanctioned  certain  changes  in  the  laws 
governing  the  inheritance  of  property,  and  furthermore  accorded 
them  the  right  to  receive  strangers  into  the  commune  after  they  had 
resided  in  the  town  for  one  month.  This  last  privilege  he  expressly 
declared  was  to  be  granted  for  such  time  as  the  citizens  should 
remain  loyal.  At  La  Reole  he  assisted  certain  merchants,  possibly 
influential  ones,  to  collect  a  debt  from  the  merchants  of  Dieppe  by 
seizing  the  property  of  the  latter  in  his  dominions.  No  sooner  was 
his  truce  with  France  concluded  than  he  extended  to  the  Reolese  the 

*^Rot.  Hit.  pat.,  49. 
*^Ibid.,  48  b. 

"  Rot.  litt.  claus.,  I,  48  b. 
*^  Rot.  chartarum,  14S  b. 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS 


ir 


same  commercial  privileges  that  were  already  enjoyed  by  the  Bor- 
delais."*^ 

The  success  which  attended  this  policy  of  conciliating  the  towns 
we  have  already  seen.  But  here  an  obvious  query  suggests  itself. 
If  favors  alone  were  necessary  why  was  it  that  John  could  not  win 
the  support  of  all  the  towns?  Why  could  he  not  hold  Poitou  as  well 
as  Gascony?  And  going  further  we  might  ask,  why  might  not 
Alfonso  win  the  towns  as  easily  as  John?  Surely  the  mere  granting 
of  favors  could  by  itself  never  furnish  the  basis  for  an  enduring 
power.  Gratitude  seldom  seems  to  have  counted  for  much  in  the 
politics  of  Gascony.  Not  only  must  the  towns  be  in  a  position  to 
assert  themselves  against  the  neighboring  nobles  but  the  favors  must 
lie  in  the  direction  of  the  interests  of  the  towns  themselves.  How 
little  favors  by  themselves  could  accomplish  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
conduct  of  St.  Jean-d'Angely.  This  town,  after  receiving  favors 
from  John,  deserted  to  Philip  upon  his  promising  to  confirm  its 
liberties.  For  John's  policy  to  succeed  the  towns  must  have  some 
interests  which  bound  them  to  their  protector.  In  the  case  of  the 
Gascon  towns  such  ties  existed,  as  a  glance  at  the  commercial  geo- 
graphy of  the  province  will  show. 

Commercially  the  great  artery  of  Gascony  was  the  Garonne  river. 
At  its  mouth,  commanding  and  concentrating  the  commerce  of  its 
upper  reaches,  stood  Bordeaux.  Above,  St.  Macaire,  Langon,  La 
Reole  and  Bazas  sent  their  trade  down  the  river  through  the  great 
central  port  of  the  duchy.  To  the  north  on  the  Dordogne  stood  St. 
fimilion,  commercially  less  dependent  upon  Bordeaux.  Of  course 
such  towns  as  La  Reole  were  so  situated  that  their  trade  could  easily 
flow  toward  northern  France  on  the  one  hand,  and  toward  Toulouse 
on  the  other.  This  may  in  part  explain  the  uncertain  loyalty  of  some 
of  them  to  the  English  cause.     But  England,  in  any  case,  offered  a 

*^  Archives  de  la  Gironde,  I,  298. 


12 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


near  and  profitable  market  for  their  wines.  The  wine  trade  with 
England  had  under  the  Angevins  assumed  large  proportions.  Wine 
had  come  to  be  regarded  in  that  country  as  a  necessity  of  life,  and 
every  year  a  fleet  of  30  or  40  vessels  sailed  from  Gascony  laden  with 
wine  and  returned  bearing  English  goods.''*  To  a  considerable 
extent  this  wine  trade  was  concentrated  at  Bordeaux  and  some  of 
the  other  towns  conducted  their  business  mainly  through  her  as  a 
port.  Merchants  indeed  of  La  Reole,  St.  Macaire,  and  St.  fimilion 
in  the  thirteenth  century  had  their  names  entered  on  the  registers 
of  the  Guild  Hall  of  London,*^  but  their  wine  was,  in  most  cases, 
shipped  from  Bordeaux. 

Turning  to  the  south  of  Gascony,  we  find  only  two  towns  of  rea' 
importance,  Dax  and  Bayonne.  Dax,  on  the  upper  course  of  the 
Adour,  could  send  her  commerce  in  three  directions,  south  down  the 
river  to  Bayonne  and  thence  by  sea,  south  across  the  Pyrenees  to  Na- 
varre, Castile**'  and  Beam,  or  north  to  Bordeaux.'*^  Richard  had  al- 
ready granted  the  Dacquois  the  right  to  trade  throughout  his  possess- 
ions in  Gascony.*^  These  privileges  had  been  confirmed  and  extended 
by  John  and  similar  ones  had  been  granted  both  to  La  Reole  and  St. 
Macaire  in  the  north.  If  enforced  they  secured  to  the  northern  towns 
their  trade  through  Bordeaux  and  to  Dax,  hers,  in  both  Bordeaux 
and  Bayonne.  But  the  English  king  was  on  several  occasions  called 
on  to  interfere  in  order  to  secure  to  these  towns  their  rights,  both 
Bayonne  and  Bordeaux  showing  a  disposition  to  ignore  them,  either 
aiming  at  securing  a  monopoly  for  themselves  or  for  other  reasons. 

"  The  specific  figures  are  cited  from  Davis,  England  under  Normans  and 
Angevins.  350.  The  fact  of  a  flourishing  trade  in  wine  is  made  abundantly 
clear  by  the  numerous  references  to  it  in  the  rolls,  many  of  which  have  been 
or  will  be  cited. 

"  Michel,  Histoire  du  commerce  de  Bordeaux,  I,  89-91,  92. 

**  See  privilege  of  Ferdinand  III,  Livre  noir,  309. 

"  One  of  the  old  Roman  roads  connected  Dax  and  Bordeaux. 

"  The  privilege,  which  is  without  date,  is  published  by  Abbadie  in  his 
edition  of  the  Livre  noir,  351,  and  dated  by  him  about  1170. 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS 


13 


The  smaller  towns  were  thus  forced  either  to  endanger  their  trade 
through  these  ports  or  to  adhere  loyally  to  the  powder  that  controlled 
them. 

Bayonne  was  in  a  somewhat  different  case.  Situated  near  the 
sea  her  commerce  could  go  either  north  along  the  coast,  or  south  to 
Spain,  or  northwest  to  England.  That  it  flowed  in  all  three  direc- 
tions, we  shall  see.  One  consideration  must  not  however  be  omitted, 
namely,  that  Bayonne  was  a  great  center  of  shipping.  It  was  in  her 
ships  that  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  wine  of  Bordeaux  was  sent  to  Eng- 
land.*^ Her  navigators'  association  had  a  regular  tariff  of  freight 
rates  from  Bayonne  to  Bordeaux,  La  Rochelle,  or  Oleron,  and  from 
La  Rochelle  to  Flanders.^"  The  ships  of  her  merchants,  also,  traded 
with  England. ^^  Thus  a  considerable  part  of  Bayonnese  trade  was 
at  the  mercy  of  the  English  king  both  in  England  and  at  Bordeaux. 
Here,  too,  John  had  granted  extensive  commercial  privileges,  as  we 
have  seen.  The  communes  in  these  towns  were  under  the  control 
largely,  if  not  wholly,  of  the  merchant  body^^  and  in  granting  these 
privileges  the  king  may  well  have  felt  that  municipal  organizations 
controlled  by  merchants  whose  commerce  he  could  injure,  if  he 
would,  w'ere  likely  to  prove  loyal  adherents  and  a  useful  counterpoise 
to  the  versatile  and  untrustworthy  nobility. 

The  years  from  1206  to  1213  were  years  of  comparative  quiet 
for  Gascony.  John  was  occupied  by  his  conflict  with  the  papacy  and 
with  the  growing  discontent  in  England.  On  the  continent,  the  war 
with  France  had  been  suspended  by  a  truce  and  John's  diplomacy 
was  constantly  aimed  at  a  reopening  of  the  war.  By  the  sentence  of 
the  French  peers  all  John's  fiefs  were  forfeit  to  the  crown  and  with 
the  expiration  of  the  truce  Philip  might  resume  his  efforts  to  carry 

*^Rot.  Kit.  claus.,  II,  170  b.     Close  Rolls,  1227-1231,  204. 
"^Fagniez,  Documents,  I,  120. 

^^  Rot.  litt.  claus.,  I,  579  b,  and  many  other  references. 
"''This  seems  evident  from  the  nature  of  tlie  concessions  and  the  gen-- 
eral  part  played  by  the  communes. 


14  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

this  sentence  into  effect.  Yet  for  some  few  years  the  peace  was  main- 
tained. John  was  busy  in  England,  the  king  of  Castile  made  no  at- 
tempt to  renew  his  claims,  and  Philip  Augustus  was  variously  occu- 
pied. Hence,  though  both  John  and  Philip  were  planning  to  renew 
the  war  at  a  favorable  moment,  as  neither  found  the  time  propitious 
the  truce  was  fairly  well  observed.  As  to  the  towns,  either  they  had 
gained  all  they  desired  for  the  moment,  or  John  felt  it  less  necessary 
to  conciliate  them ;  for  there  are  few  facts  of  his  affecting  them  on 
record. 

John's  chief  reliance  for  the  recovery  of  his  lost  provinces  was  a 
great  league  against  Philip,  at  the  formation  of  which  he  labored 
earnestly  during  these  years.  By  12 14  this  league  was  not  only 
formed  but  ready  to  act.  The  plans  called  for  a  double  invasion  of 
France,  an  attack  on  Poitou  by  John  and  an  invasion  from  the  north 
by  Otto,  Holy  Roman  Emperor,  the  most  important  of  John's  allies. 
Directly  the  war  was  begun  John  resumed  his  former  policy  toward 
the  townspeople.  No  sooner  had  he  landed  at  La  Rochelle  than  he 
granted  letters  of  protection  to  two  merchants  of  Bayonne.^^  On 
April  II,  from  St.  fimilion,  he  granted  letters  patent  to  the  citizens 
of  Bordeaux.  By  these  letters  he  exacted  the  payment  of  the  duties 
on  wine  and  salt  brought  up  the  Gironde  to  Bordeaux  which  had 
been  in  force  under  Richard.  However,  he  exempted  from  all  duty 
such  wine  as  was  brought  from  the  vineyards  of  the  citizens  of  the 
town,  provided  it  was  brought  to  the  town  for  sale.^*  Five  days  later 
the  king  took  all  the  burghers  of  Bordeaux  under  his  especial  pro- 
tection.^^ Nor  was  La  Reole  forgotten.  There  John  also  accorded 
letters  of  protection  to  a  certain  Senebrunnus  de  Pins  and  his  broth- 
er.^^  During  the  year  John  also  exacted  an  oath  of  fidelity  from  the 
principal  burghers. 

'^Rot.  litt.  pat.,  nob. 

"^Ibid.,  113. 

'Ubid.,  114. 

"  There  are  two  entries.     In  the  one  the  name  is  given  Selebrunus  de 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS  15 

The  opening  of  John's  campaign  was  successful.  Though  he 
brought  few  men  with  him  to  Gascony  he  was  well  supplied  with 
money^'  and  the  Poitevin  lords  received  him  favorably,  recognized 
his  suzerainty  and  entered  his  service.  He  thus  easily  brought  the 
greater  part  of  Poitou  under  his  nominal  control.  How  slight  his 
hold  really  was  shortly  appeared. 

Louis,  Philip's  son,  who  commanded  in  the  south,  no  sooner  ad- 
vanced against  John  than  the  Poitevins  refused  to  engage  in  a  pitch- 
ed battle,  and  John,  fearing  worse  treason,  hurriedly  retreated. ^^  A 
reason  for  their  refusal  may  have  been  their  desire  not  to  commit 
themselves  too  deeply  while  the  success  of  the  emperor  in  the  north 
was  still  uncertain. ^^  As  we  might  expect,  this  discovery  of  the  un- 
reliability of  the  barons  threw  John  more  than  ever  on  the  towns. 
Hardly  had  the  king  begun  his  retreat  from  the  north  when  on  July 
7,  at  Mansy,  he  solemnly  confirmed  the  commercial  privileges  granted 
to  Dax  by  his  father  and  brother.  The  act  was  attested  by  the 
bishop  of  Dax,  the  viscount  of  Tartas,  Reginald  de  Pons,  the  sene- 
schal and  two  citizens  of  Bordeaux,  namely  Elias  Viger  and  Amaneus 
Colom.^°  Possibly  these  two  burghers  were  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing the  confirmation.  At  any  rate,  they  were  both  in  favor  with  the 
king;  for  on  July  9  we  find  John,  now  at  La  Rochelle,  authorizing 
Amaneus  to  hold  the  property  of  Ceroid  de  Mota  in  pawn  until  he 
had  repaid  a  debt  which  Ceroid  owes  him.*'^  Persons  unpopular  at 
cour*^  were  not  likely  to  be  thus  aided  in  their  business  transactions.. 
The  decisive  issues  of  the  campaign  were  settled  neither  in  Poitou 
nor  Cascony.    John's  hopes  were  mainly  built  on  the  success  of  the 

Pons,  in  the  other  Sedebrunus  de  Pins.     Since  there  was  a  Senebrunnus  de 
Pins  I  have  assumed  that  to  be  the  correct  name.    Rot.  litt.  pat.,  Ill  b  and  114. 

"  Ramsay,  Angevin  Empire,  448-9. 

""Ibid.,  451. 

''  Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angevins,  372-5. 

^  Rot.  chartarum,  199  b;  also  Livre  noir,  243. 

'^Rot.  litt.  pat.,  Ii8b. 


1 6  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

emperor  and  his  allies  who  simultaneously  with  his  invasion  of  Poi- 
tou  were  making  an  attack  on  Philip  from  the  north.  There  the 
battle  of  Bouvines  shattered  all  his  hopes.  The  best  he  could  do 
now  was  to  arrange  a  five  years'  truce  with  Philip*'^  and  return  to 
face  the  long  accumulated  discontent  of  England. 

The  details  of  this  struggle  concern  English  rather  than  Gascon 
history,  but  in  the  struggle  the  Gascon  towns  seem  to  have  played 
a  part.  John  would  appear  to  have  relied  upon  them  for  supplies, 
especially  wine  for  his  mercenary  troops,  since  we  find  in  the  close 
rolls  numerous  orders  for  the  payment  of  citizens,  chiefly  of  Bor- 
deaux, for  wine,"^  and  on  December  24  one  for  one  hundred  marks 
to  Arnold  of  Bayonne  and  others  for  the  transportation  of  soldiers.*^* 
Possibly  it  was  as  a  reward  for  such  services  in  the  way  of  transpor- 
tation that  John  on  April  19,  12 15,  extended  to  Bayonne  the  munic- 
ipal institutions  of  La  Rochelle.*'^ 

When,  to  oppose  John's  foreign  mercenaries,  the  English  barons 
called  in  Louis  of  France,  the  situation  was  somewhat  modified. 
Though  Philip  Augustus  declared  himself  neutral,  Louis  received 
supplies  from  the  continent.  John  might  not  unnaturally  desire  to 
cut  off  his  rival's  communications.  It  was  doubtless  with  this  end 
in  view  that  he  directed  letters  patent  tO'  the  communal  authorities 
at  Bayonne  (Rex  XII  juratis  et  consolatui  de  Bayonne)  directing 
them  to  arm  their  galleys  for  his  service  in  harassing  his  enemies.''^ 
Certainly  John  must  have  considered  this  harassing  of  his  enemies  a 
matter  of  vital  importance,  for  he  not  only  sent  these  letters  patent, 
but  dispatched  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux  and  the  archdeacon  of 
Poitou  to  Bayonne  to  urge  the  commune  to  carry  out  his  orders. 

°^  Norgate,  John  Lackland,  205. 
*^  Rot.  lift,  claus.,  I,  193  b  and  222, 
'*Rot.  litt.  pat.,  161. 
"  Balasque,  £tudes,  I,  362. 

**  Rot.  litt.  pat.,  185  b;  also  publis'hed  by  Champollion-Figeac,  Lettres  de 
rots,  I,  26. 


JOHN  AND  THE  TOWNS 


17 


Whether  the  citizens  of  Bayonne  obeyed  the  king  in  this  or  not, 
the  time  seemed  to  them  favorable  for  concessions.  They  petitioned 
John  for  exemptions  from  all  tolls  and  customs  in  his  territories. 
John  replied  favorably  to  this  request,  but  his  sudden  death  pre- 
vented any  measures  being  taken.  Such  at  least  is  the  statement 
made  by  the  town  itself  to  Henry  III  in  1219,*'^  and,  though  rendered 
somewhat  suspicious  by  the  obvious  self-interest  of  the  commune, 
it  hardly  seems  improbable  when  we  consider  John's  position  at  the 
time.  At  any  rate,  if  the  king  made  any  promises  his  death  pre- 
vented their  fulfilment. 

''  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  65. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  REIGN  OE  HENRY  III,  1216-1220 

Difficulties  of  the  English  government  after  the  death  of  John.  First  meas- 
ures of  the  regency.  Bankruptcy  of  the  government.  Dangers  in  Gas- 
cony.  Weakness  of  the  seneschal.  Anarchy  in  Gascony  and  Poitou. 
Marriage  of  Isabella.  Quarrel  with  Hugh  of  La  Marohe.  Attempts  of 
towns  and  church  to  maintain  peace.  Position  of  towns  as  supporters 
of  the  royal  power.     Concessions  to  them.     Danger  in  France. 

John,  at  his  death,  bequeathed  to  his  son  Henry  a  chaotic  state  and 
an  uncertain  throne.  The  new  government  had  before  it  the  double 
task  of  driving  Prince  Louis  out  of  England  and  of  maintaining  the 
king's  authority  over  such  continental  dominions  as  yet  remained  to 
him.  On  the  continent,  indeed,  France  and  England  were  still  at 
peace,  since  Philip  continued  to  observe  the  truce  concluded  with 
John.  Nevertheless,  this  peace  was  only  temporary  for  the  war  was 
certain  to  be  renewed  sooner  or  later,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  task 
of  maintaining  order  in  Gascony  surpassed  the  resources  of  the  bank- 
rupt government. 

Dark  as  the  situation  seemed,  it  was  not  hopeless.  There  were 
in  Henry's  favor  several  circumstances.  He  was  a  child  and  his  fath- 
er's enemies  could,  therefore,  have  no  personal  animosity  against 
him.  He  had,  moreover,  a  wise  and  able  regent  in  the  person  of 
William  Marshall  and,  in  addition,  the  powerful  support  of  his 
guardian  Honorius  III.  The  pope  had  already  come  to  the  assistance 
of  his  father,  having  in  1216  dispatched  a  mandate  to  the  archbishop 
of  Bordeaux  instructing  him  and  his  suffragans  to  urge  John's  vas- 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN 


19 


sals  in  their  diocese  to  hasten  to  his  defense  in  England.^  On  John's 
death  the  Pope  acted  with  equal  energy  in  Henr}''s  favor.  He  com- 
manded his  legate  in  England  to  protect  John's  children  and  to  de- 
clare illegal  all  oaths  taken  to  Louis.-  Later  he  despatched  an  exhor- 
tation to  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux  to  urge  those  detaining  lands 
and  goods  of  the  king  or  his  mother  to  give  them  up,  no  appeal  be- 
ing allowed.^ 

In  spite  of  this  support  from  the  church,  which  no  doubt  con- 
tributed to  keeping  the  French  king  quiet,  the  problems  facing  the 
government  were  sufficiently  serious.  Its  energies  for  the  time  being 
were  concentrated  upon  the  defeat  of  Prince  Louis.  All  it  could  do 
upon  the  continent  was  to  conciliate  all  classes,  so  far  as  possible, 
while  using  the  papal  support  for  whatever  it  might  prove  to  be 
worth  as  a  means  of  preserving  order.  So  far  as  the  nobles  were 
concerned  conciliation  doubtless  meant  letting  them  alone,  since  they 
might  reasonably  be  trusted  not  to  revolt  against  a  suzerain  who  did 
not  interfere  with  them.  The  towns,  however,  had  grievances.  John 
had  imprisoned  one  prominent  burgher  and  had  taken  wine  without 
payment,  whether  by  agreement  or  seizure.  This  might  seem  a 
reversal  of  his  former  policy,  but  allowances  must  be  made  for  a 
king  of  so  violent  a  temper  and  a  government  in  such  desperate 
straits  as  his. 

The  new  government  at  once  made  haste  to  set  these  matters 
right — on  parchment  at  any  rate.  Among  the  prisoners  liberated  by 
William  Marshall  as  soon  as  he  had  assumed  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment was  Rustengo  de  Soler.*  Now  Rustengo  was,  probably  at 
this  time  and  unquestionably  later,  a  man  of  great  wealth,  of  landed 
property,  of  aristocratic  connections.    He  was  destined,  in  conjunc- 

^  Papal  Letters,  I,  41. 

'Ibid.,  43. 

^  Ibid.,  44. 

*  Patent  Rolls,  1216-1225,  11. 


20  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

tion  with  his  son  Gaillard,  to  stand  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  two 
great  factions  of  Bordeaux,  and  it  may  well  have  been  that  his  rela- 
tives or  friends  even  then  controlled  the  commune.  How  this  man 
came  to  be  imprisoned  we  are  not  informed,  but,  for  whatever  reason, 
he  was,  at  Henry's  accession,  confined  in  Corfe  Castle  in  the  county 
of  Dorset.^ 

Not  only  was  Rustengo  set  at  liberty  by  the  regent  but,  during 
the  next  year  (1217)  he  was  intrusted  with  the  custody  of  the  castle 
of  Labarre,®  and  arrangements  were  made  to  pay  him  for  84  dolia 
of  wine  which  John  had  taken  to  provision  Dover  Castle/  The 
Bordelais,  moreover,  continued  in  favor  with  the  government,  since 
in  1219  we  find  him  acting  as  one  of  the  bailiffs  of  Dax.*  Nor  was 
Rustengo  the  only  merchant  whom  the  regent  deemed  it  wise  to  pay. 
In  February  of  1218  he  ordered  the  seneschal  to  pay  two  and  one-half 
marks  sterling  to  Arnold  Reisac  of  Bordeaux  for  20  dolia  of  wine 
taken  by  John.® 

While  thus  maintaining  friendly  relations  with  the  townspeople 
of  Bordeaux,  leaving  the  nobility  largely  to  themselves  or  controlling 
them  through  the  church,  the  regent  pressed  the  w^ar  with  Louis  to 
a  successful  coiiclusion.  By  the  treaty  of  Lambeth,  signed  on  Sep- 
tember II,  1217,  the  prince  withdrew  from  England  and  abandoned 
his  claims  in  return  for  an  indemnity  of   10,000  marks.     Yet  the 

''Corfe  had  been  John's  headquarters  during  the  months  of  July  and  Aug- 
ust.    Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angevins,  388. 

^  Rot.  lift,  clans.  I,  308.  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  80,  130,  133.  Probably  Pat, 
Rolls,  157,  also  refers  to  this.  Labarre  was  situated  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Condom,  near  the  Toulousan  frontier.  The  whole  region  of  Toulouse  was 
then  in  a  state  of  anarchy  and  Honorius  III  was  urging  Philip  Augustus  to 
intervene  in  Languedoc.  Prince  Louis,  indeed,  headed  an  expedition  there  in 
the  following  year.  It  would,  therefore,  seem  that  such  a  frontier  castle  must 
have  been  a  place  of  considerable  importance. 

''Pat.  Rolls.  1216-1225,  137. 

"  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  46. 

'Rot.  litt.  claus.,  I,  351b. 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN 


21 


government's  difficulties  were  by  no  means  over.  The  revolt 
of  the  barons  and  the  civil  war  had  gone  far  to  shatter  the  royal  au- 
thority and  organization.  John  had  intrusted  many  of  his  castles  to 
foreign  mercenary  leaders  whom  the  regent  was  anxious  to  remove, 
the  revenues  were  scanty,  and  the  indemnity  to  Louis  and  other 
debts  exhausted  the  treasury. 

These  problems  occupied  the  last  days  of  the  regent,  and  at  his 
death,  in  May  of  12 19,  he  left  them  still  unsettled  to  his  successor, 
Hubert  de  Burgh.  Indeed  Hubert  found  the  government  so  much 
impoverished  that  he  could  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  admin- 
istration only  by  the  help  of  loans  from  the  papal  legate.^*'  Under 
these  circumstances  nothing  could  be  spared  for  Gascony  and  there 
the  king's  representative,  the  seneschal,  was  obliged  to  do  what  he 
could  with  the  resources  of  the  duchy.  As  these  resources  were  sadly 
insufficient  Gascony  drifted  steadily  toward  anarchy,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  the  attitude  of  the  French  became  more  threatening. 

While  Louis  had  been  fighting  in  England  Philip  Augustus,  as 
we  have  seen,  had  remained  quietly  at  Paris.  He  had,  it  is  true,  aided 
his  son,  but  had  not  desired  to  risk  a  conflict  with  Honorius  HI,  by 
attacking  Aquitaine.  Louis,  however,  returning  from  England, 
soothed  his  disappointment  and  reconciled  himself  with  the  church  by 
plunging  into  the  war  in  Languedoc,  and  by  April  of  1219  was  en- 
gaged in  the  siege  of  Toulouse.  Now  it  was  by  no  means  unlikely 
that  if  he  failed  to  take  Toulouse  he  would  relieve  his  feelings  by 
taking  some  of  the  English  territories.  This  was  the  more  probable 
as  the  truce  with  France  concluded  by  king  John  would  soon  expire, 
and  border  nobles  were  little  to  be  trusted.  With  such  dangers  threat- 
ening from  France  the  internal  condition  of  the  duchy  grew  constant- 
ly worse  and  the  seneschal  was  helpless. 

*"  Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angevins,  401. 


2  2  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

These  dangers  were  clearly  pointed  out  to  the  English  govern- 
ment. Queen  Isabella,  who  after  the  death  of  her  husband  had  re- 
turned to  the  continent,  sent  warnings.  In  a  letter  written  to  her 
son,  probably  in  the  spring  of  12 19,  she  reminds  him  of  previous  vain 
appeals  for  help,  and  informs  him  that  help  is  now  more  urgently 
needed  than  ever ;  for  a  breach  of  the  truce  with  France  would 
gravely  imperil  his  possessions.^^  Similar  warnings  were  reported 
from  another  source.  Geoffrey  Neville,  the  seneschal  of  Gascony, 
pointed  out  to  the  king  that  while  Prince  Louis  was  then  busy  with 
Toulouse  yet  when  he  returned  from  his  expedition  he  would  probably 
attack  Helie  Ridell,  lord  of  Bergerac,  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
marches  of  Agenois  and  Perigord ;  nor  would  it  be  possible,  he  ad- 
ded for  Helie  to  hold  these  territories  without  assistance.^^ 

With  such  perils  in  the  air  new  favors  to  Bordeaux  are  not 
surprising.  On  May  28  Hubert  issued  letters  of  safe  conduct  to 
the  citizens  of  that  city.  These  letters  confirmed  the  right  of  the 
burghers  to  come  with  their  merchandise  to  England,  to  remain  there 
in  safety,  and  to  return  freely  to  Bordeaux  on  condition  of  the 
payment  of  the  right  and  proper  customs — rectas  ct  debitas  coiisiie- 
tudines}^  Such  a  concession  was  an  obvious  benefit  to  the  merch- 
ants engaged  in  English  commerce  and  the  list  of  mayors  clearly 
shows  us  that  this  element  then  controlled  the  commune  in  that  city.^* 

While  such  concessions — or  confirmations  of  previous  conces- 
sions,    for    the    Bordelais    must    have     enjoyed     these    privileges 

"  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  23. 

"  Ibid.,  26. 

^^  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  194. 

"From  1217  to  1221  the  office  of  mayor  was  held  by  the  following  per- 
sons: Bernard  d'Acra  (twice),  Peter  Andron,  W.  R.  Colom  and  Peter  Viger. 
Of  these  d'Acra,  Colom  and  Viger  were  engaged  in  the  English  trade.  For 
d'Acra  see  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  496-98.  For  Viger  see  the  privilege  given 
his  brother  and  noticed  on  page  6.  The  close  connection  of  the  Coloms 
with  the  wine  trade  will  be  evidenced  by  our  entire  study. 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN 


23 


in  substance  before  this  time — might  retain  the  towns  in 
their  loyahy  yet  the  authority  of  the  seneschal  was  reach- 
ing its  nadir.  So  pressed  was  he  for  money  that  Geof- 
frey Neville  was  even  detained  at  La  Rochelle  for  his 
debts  and  only  allowed  to  leave  on  obtaining  a  loan  from  Hugh 
de  Lusignan  of  160  marks.^^  Under  these  circumstances  the  feudal 
lords  broke  loose  from  all  control.  Hugh  of  Lusignan,  count  of  La 
Marche,  was  harassing  the  town  of  Niort  and  other  magnates  were 
threatening  other  places.  Chaos  reigned  everywhere  and  in  the 
midst  of  it  the  seneschal  stood  powerless.  So,  at  least,  it  was  that 
the  seneschal  himself  described  the  situation  in  a  doleful  letter  to 
the  king,  .written  in  I\Iay  or  June  of  12 19,  complaining  of  his  help- 
lessness— destitute  as  he  was  both  of  men  and  money — and  expres- 
sing his  fears  that  unless  aid  was  promptly  sent  him  the  king's  lands 
and  towns  would  be  seized  by  Hugh  and  other  lords.  He  concluded 
bitterly  that  unless  he  was  better  supported  he  would  leave  Gascony 
where  he  was  useless  and  go  on  a  crusade  to  the  Holy  Land.^^ 

But  the  English  government  was  fully  occupied  in  getting  rid  of 
the  mercenaries  whom  John  had  placed  in  command  of  the  castles 
and  had  no  help  to  send.  So  matters  drifted  till  July,  growing  worse 
instead  of  better.  The  barons  were  still  devastating  the  royal  domains 
and  seizing  and  ransoming  the  burghers.  The  seneschal  again 
described  these  conditions  to  the  king  and  again  complained  of  his 
helplessness,  saying  that  his  poverty  was  such  that  he  could  neither 
subjugate  the  barons  nor  defend  the  king's  lands,  and  that  his  credit 
was  so  far  exhausted  that  no  one  would  lend  him  anything.  He 
concluded  as  before  with  a  threat  of  leaving  Gascony  unless  aid 
should  be  sent  him." 

Badly  though  the  seneschal  needed  money  the  English  government 

"  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  44. 
''Ibid.,  29. 
"Ibid.,  I.  37. 


24  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

would  not  let  him  obtain  it  by  means  that  might  ahenate  the  towns. 
When  he  demanded  the  arrears  of  certain  dues  from  Bayonne  he  was 
promptly  checked.  In  June — that  is  about  the  time  of  the  seneschal's 
first  letter — Hubert  commanded  him  not  to  exact  the  arrears  of  dues 
at  Bayonne,  since  these  duties  had  been  granted  to  the  citizens  for 
fortifying  their  town;  and  Hubert  even  went  so  far  as  to  command 
him  to  pay  back  to  them  25  pounds  sterling  which  he  had  already 
collected.^® 

Meantime  the  danger  from  France  grew  as  the  period  of  the 
truce  drew  near  its  end.  Clearly  something  must  be  done  to  guard 
against  an  attack  from  Louis.  Apparently  with  this  in  view  Hubert 
on  July  2T,  ordered  various  persons  in  Bordeaux  to  set  about  the  task 
of  fortifying  the  city.^®  Some  response  must  also  be  made  to  the 
seneschal's  repeated  entreaties  for  money.  But  the  royal  treasury 
was  in  no  condition  to  furnish  funds.  Under  these  circumstances 
Hubert  turned  to  the  towns  for  help.  Having  received  many  favors 
they  might  be  willing  assist  the  king,  the  more  so  as  it  would  appear 
to  have  been  plainly  to  their  interest  to  strengthen  the  royal  govern- 
ment that  it  might  be  able  to  protect  them  from  the  nobles.  In  July, 
at  the  same  time  that  he  wrote  concerning  the  fortification  of  Bor- 
deaux, Hubert  wrote  both  to  La  Rochelle  and  Bordeaux  asking  each 
town  to  advance  1,000  marks  to  the  seneschal  for  the  defense  of  the 
king's  lands.  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  the  master  of  the  Templars 
in  Aquitaine  asking  him  to  advance  enough  to  make  up  2,000 
marks,  in  case  either  of  the  towns  did  not  advance  the  entire  sum 
asked  for.  Hubert  also  strengthened  his  appeal  by  inducing  the 
commune  of  London  to  write  to  the  mayor  and  communes  of  the  two 
cities,  offering  to  guarantee  the  repayment  of  the  loan.^'' 

^"^  Rot.  litt.  clans.,  I,  393.    Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  200. 
'"Pat.  Rolls,  198. 
'"Ibid.,  198-199- 
A  word  as  to  the  value  of  money  may  not  be  out  of  place  at  this  time. 
One  of  the  latest  estimates  is  that  of  IVIalvczin  in  his  Hisfoire  du  commerce 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN  25 

So  far  the  situation  appears  simple.  The  nobles  were  oppressing- 
the  townspeople  and  the  king  was  conciliating  them  and  appealing  to 
them  for  loans  to  help  him  curb  the  nobles.-^  The  reason  for 
attacks  of  the  nobles  on  the  towns  may  have  been  mere  turbulence 
and  love  of  plunder,  or  it  may  well  have  been  a  desire  to  extend  their 
powers  by  forcing  the  towns  to  become  their  vassals  instead  of  con- 
tinuing to  hold  directly  of  the  king.  In  any  case  before  the  year  was 
over  a  new  complication  arose  in  the  outbreak  of  violent  quarrels 
between  the  towns.  Toward  the  end  of  12 19  the  common  council  of 
Dax  were  complaining  bitterly  of  the  conduct  of  the  citizens  of 
Bayonne,  who,  they  said,  had  closed  the  Adour  against  their  com- 
merce.22  At  the  same  time  the  relations  between  La  Reole  and 
Bordeaux  were  becoming  strained.  It  will  be  recalled  that  John  had 
granted  to  the  citizens  of  La  Reole  exemption  from  all  duties  on  their 
goods  in  the  port  of  Bordeaux.  In  12 17  William  Marshall  had  com- 
missioned Gerard  Brochard,  master  of  the  Templars  in  Aquitaine, 
and  his  brother  Templars  to  collect  the  dues  of  Bordeaux  until  they 
should  have  repaid  themselves  1,157  marks  borrowed  by  John.^^ 
Gerard  had  now  begun  to  collect  these  dues  upon  the  goods  of  the 
citizens  of  La  Reole  regardless  of  their  privilege.  In  November  of 
12 19,  if  we  follow  the  dates  assigned  by  Shirley,  the  council  and  all 

de  Bordeaux.  He  values  the  Uvre  tournois  at  18  francs  97  centimes  and  the 
mark  at  2  livres  18  sous.  The  money  of  Bordeaux  equalled  that  of  Tours. 
Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  306,  and  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  199.  The  pound  sterling- 
equalled  4  livres  tournois  (Roles  Gascons,  no.  263)  and  the  mark  sterling- 
was  2/3  of  a  pound  sterling  (Rot.  litt.  claus.  I,  623).  This  of  course  refers 
to  the  intrinsic  value ;  the  purchasing  power  'M'alvezin  estimates  as  nine  times 
greater  than  today,  but  Balasque,  £tudes,  II,  218,  puts  it  only  double. 

"  Only  once  so  far  as  the  records  show  did  the  English  government  take 
a  step  that  might  irritate  the  burghers.  This  was  wihen  in  1219  it  notified  the 
wine  merchants  of  Bordeaux  of  the  discovery  that  certain  of  their  wine  casks 
were  of  short  measure,  and  warned  them  that  should  this  be  found  again  the 
wine  in  sudh  casks  would  be  confiscated. 

""  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  45. 

^  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  51. 


26  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

the  burghers  of  the  town  wrote  a  violent  letter  to  the  king  complain- 
ing of  this  action.^*  At  about  the  same  time  two  of  their  citizens 
sent  the  king  an  account  of  the  quarrel  from  which  it  appears  that 
the  citizens  of  Bordeaux  were  supporting  the  action  of  the  Tem- 
plars.-^ In  the  course  of  these  disputes  no  reference  was  made  to  the 
seneschal,  representative  of  the  king  in  Gascony.  This  in  itself  is  con- 
firmation that  his  complaints  of  powerlessness  were  not  exaggerated. 

The  danger  from  Louis  seems  to  have  been  constantly  threatening 
for  we  find  Pope  Honorius  III  ordering  his  legate  to  prevent  the 
prince  from  seizing  the  lands  of  the  king  of  England,  whether  in 
Poitou  or  Gascony.'*^  This  was  in  May  1219  and  was  worth  some- 
thing. Still  as  Innocent  III  had  not  been  able  to  prevent  this  same 
prince  from  invading  England  it  might  well  be  questioned  if  Honorius 
could  hold  him  back  from  Gascony,  and  the  province  seemed  in  no 
condition  to  withstand  an  attack. 

Before  such  conditions  Geoffrey  Neville  might  well  grow  dis- 
heartened. Perhaps  to  seek  for  further  support,  he  went  to  England 
in  November  leaving  affairs  in  Gascony  in  the  hands  of  a  knight 
named  William  Gauler.-^  We  can  form  some  estimate  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  royal  authority  when  we  find — if  we  may  trust  Gauler — 
that  Neville  left  him  nothing  but  port  dues  which  amounted  to  only 
50  pounds.  In  any  case  Gauler  did  not  enjoy  a  long  tenure  of  office ; 
for  the  king  issued  an  order  for  his  arrest  in  the  very  month  of 
Neville's  departure,  though  for  what  reason  does  not  appear.-^ 
After  this  Neville  resumed  his  duties  but  was  not  appreciably  stronger 
than  before.  The  course  of  events  seems  to  have  been  entirely  beyond 
his  control,  and  the  province  drifted  along  almost  as  if  no  royal 
representative  had  been  present. 

^*  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  49. 

''Ibid.,  53. 

'"Papal  Letters,  I,  67. 

"  S'hirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  49. 

^Ibid.,  54- 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN  27 

Under  such  circumstances  the  quarrels  and  disputes  continued 
unabated.  La  Reole  was  still  in  difficulties  with  Bordeaux.  The 
justiciar  had  in  July  ordered  the  seneschal  to  maintain  the  liberties 
of  the  town-^  and  had  written  to  Brochard  ordering  him  to  respect 
them.^°  This  had  proved  insufficient  for  in  November  the  council 
and  burghers  had  again  written  to  the  chancellor  and  despatched  a 
certain  Marlettus  as  nuncio  to  secure  a  formal  confirmation  of  their 
liberties, ^^  Marl'^ttiis  seems  to  have  been  favorably  received  for  in 
February  of  1220  the  king  made  him  a  present  of  one  mark,  perhups 
as  payment  of  his  expenses.^-  Bayonne,  somewhat  irrelevantly,  re- 
plied to  the  complaints  of  Dax  by  protesting  her  loyalty  to  the  king^^ 
and  inducing  the  viscount  of  Bearn^*  and  the  common  council  of  Ba- 
zas to  testify  to  it  likewise.^^  She,  moreover,  renewed  her  request — 
made  formerly,  as  she  declares,  to  John — for  exemption  from  all 
tolls  and  customs.^" 

In  one  respect  the  English  government  met  with  good  fortune. 
They  were  able  to  secure  a  renewal  for  four  years  of  the  truce  which 
expired  in  1220.  This  gave  a  little  longer  time  in  which  to  attempt 
to  put  the  country  in  a  posture  of  defense.  Though  they  were 
successful  in  this  matter  the  internal  conditions  showed  no  sign  of 
improvement  with  the  beginning  of  1220.  In  February  or  March  of 
that  year  the  mayor  and  burgesses  of  La  Rochelle  thanked  the  king 
for  renewing  the  truce  with  France,  but  complained  to  him  that  the 
lord  of  Parthenay  was  harassing  the  burghers  of  Niort  and  St. 
Jean-d'Angely.^^      The  town  of  Niort  speedily  echoed  these  com- 

'°i?o/.  lift,  clans.,  I,  395  5. 

""Ibid.,  435- 

'^  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  49. 

^^  Rot.  litt.  clans..  I,  411. 

''  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  65. 

''Ibid.,  66. 

''Ibid.,  67. 

'« Ibid.,  65. 

''Ibid.,  94. 


28  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

plaints,  with  details  of  their  citizens  imprisoned  and  blinded. ^^  Dax, 
too,  forgetting,  or  perhaps  having  composed  her  quarrel  with  Bay- 
onne,  was  petitioning  the  king  to  force  Geoffrey  Neville  to  repay 
money  borrowed  from  her  citizens. ^^ 

It  seems  clear  from  such  glimpses  as  these  letters  give  us  that, 
while  disorder  was  general,  it  was  at  its  worst  in  Poitou.  Dax  and 
Bayonne  were  not  only  stronger  but  the  neighboring  lords  were 
W'Caker  than  was  the  case  with  Niort  and  other  Poitevin  towns.  In 
Poitou  the  fate  of  the  English  rule  depended  largely  on  the  attitude 
of  the  greatest  feudal  lord  of  the  region,  Hugh  of  Lusignan,  count  of 
La  Marche.  His  ambition  was  naturally  to  extend  his  power  in 
Poitou  and  to  acquire  a  position  of  practical  independence  by  playing 
off  the  English  against  the  French.  Hitherto  he  had  been  nominally 
loyal  to  the  English,  but  he  now  saw  an  opening  for  his  own  advance- 
ment. Isabella,  Henry's  mother,  had  returned  to  France  to  admin- 
ister Angouleme,  which  she  inherited  from  her  father.  After  having 
suffered  many  and  repeated  agressions  from  Hugh — of  which  she 
complained  in  vain  to  Henry — she  now  took  the  step  of  marrying 
Hugh  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was  betrothed  to  her  daughter. 
She  explained  in  her  letter  announcing  her  marriage  that  it  was  con- 
tracted to  further,  or  at  least  safeguard,  Henry's  interests.  The 
count  was  v»'ithout  an  heir  and  as  his  fiancee  was  very  young  had  re- 
solved to  seek  a  wife  in  France,  If  this  project  had  been  carried 
through  Isabella  declared  that  both  Poitou  and  Gascony  would  have 
been  lost  to  Henry.  She  professed  to  have  acted  rather  for  his  in- 
terests than  her  own.  She  closed  by  demanding,  among  other  things, 
the  town  of  Niort  and  the  sum  of  3500  marks  left  her  by  King 
John.^o 

These  demands  not  being  complied  with  Hugh  speedily  proceeded 

^  Ibid.,  95  and  96. 
^'  Ibid.,  97. 
""Ibid.,  114. 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN  29 

to  acts  of  hostility  against  the  English.  Among  the  first  of  these 
seems  to  have  been  an  attempt  to  persuade  or  force  the  towns  of 
La  Rochelle,  Niort,  and  St.  Jean-d'Angely  to  ally  themselves  with 
him.  His  overtures  being  rejected,  either  in  revenge  or  as  a  means 
of  compulsion  he  seized  such  of  their  citizens  as  were  within  his 
territories.  Such  a  policy  would  not  merely  annoy  individuals,  but, 
if  persisted  in,  would  destroy  commerce  passing  through  La  IMarche 
and  Lusignan.  Under  such  circumstances  the  towns  turned  to  their 
royal  master. 

In  May,  if  we  follow  Shirley's  rather  tenative  dating,  the  mavor 
and  burgesses  of  La  Rochelle  informed  Henry  that  the  count  had 
written  them  a  ver}^  menacing  letter.*^  They  add  significantly  that  a 
powerful  man  is  much  needed  as  seneschal.  This  in  itself  is  a 
strong  suggestion  of  royalist  sympathies  on  the  part  of  the  towns. 
It  is,  moreover,  decidedly  confirmed  by  a  letter  to  Henry  from 
William  Gumbaud,  an  officer  in  charge  of  the  castles  of  Fronsac  and 
Mirabeau,  w^ho  declares  that  Hugh  is  threatening  the  lands  under 
his  charge  and  that  he  is  not  in  a  position  to  protect  them.  He  asks 
the  king  to  give  orders  to  Bordeaux,  La  Rochelle,  La  Reole  and  other 
towns  to  assist  him  in  defending  Fronsac.*'  Evidently,  in  this  in- 
stance, the  king's  officer  relied  on  the  towns  to  enable  him  to  resist 
the  feudal  lords,  especially  a  lord  against  whom  they  had  so  many 
and  such  weighty  grievances  as  they  professed  to  have  against  the 
count  of  La  Marche. 

The  quarrel  with  Hugh,  however,  did  not  go  so  far  as  actual 
war,  owing  to  the  combined  action  of  the  church  and  towns.  Since 
the  king  could  not  preserve  order  these  two  powers  undertook  to  do 
so.  The  bishops  of  Saintonge,  Poitou,  Angouleme  and  Perigord, 
acting  together,  persuaded  Hugh  to  agree  to  a  truce  for  seven  weeks. 

'^Ibid.,  123. 
^'Ibid.,  155. 


30 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


This  truce  was  announced  to  king  Henry  by  the  mayor  and  commune 
of  Bordeaux*^  who  frankly  added  that  it  was  important  and  even 
necessary  to  retain  the  good  will  of  the  count  and  that  to  disturb  him 
was  pcriculosa  et  damnosa.  They  end  their  letter  by  an  entreaty  to 
the  king  to  be  discreet  in  his  action.  In  writing  thus  they  pretend 
to  be  fulfilling  a  request  of  the  prud'  hoinmcs  of  La  Rochelle,  possibly 
to  avert  from  themselves  any  wrath  the  king  might  feel  at  their 
rather  plain  language.  Hubert  appears  to  have  despatched  nuncios 
to  conclude  a  peace  with  Hugh,  but  events  did  not  await  their  coming. 
Before  their  arrival,  the  bishops  with  certain  barons  and  representa- 
tives of  the  towns  of  Bordeaux,  Niort,  La  Rochelle  and  St.  Jean- 
d'Angely  held  a  conference  with  Hugh  at  Angouleme.  Thereafter 
the  towns  despatched  envoys  to  England  to  assist  in  arranging  a 
permanent  peace,**  which  seems  to  have  been  concluded  in  November 
of  that  year. 

The  peace  thus  concluded  was  not  destined  to  prove  lasting.  In 
reality  it  was  little  more  than  a  truce.  Hugh  for  the  moment  laid 
aside  such  of  his  demands  as  he  deemed  it  inopportune  to  press,  but 
the  English  government  could  never  count  upon  him  with  confidence,^ 
as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  see.  He  was  quite  prepared  to  desert 
to  the  French  whenever  his  interests  seemed  to  dictate  that  course^ 
though  upon  the  whole  he  may  well  have  preferred  King  Henry  as. 
the  weaker  and  therefore  more  lenient  master. 

With  the  afifairs  of  Gascony  in  such  a  state  Hubert  could  hardly 
venture  to  offend  the  burghers.  Nor  were  these  latter  likely  to  let 
so  good  an  occasion  for  bringing  forward  their  claims  slip  by  unused.. 
In  this  matter  Bordeaux  was  particularly  active.  On  the  occasion 
of  Henry's  second  coronation,  in  May  1220,  she  requested  confirma- 
tion of  a  charter  of  King  John.*-'     From  the  language  of  the  letter 

''Ibid.,  132. 
"  Ibid.,  iz|8. 
**  Ibid.,  125. 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN  31 

the  charter  was  one  referring  to  commercial  privileges,  and  it  was 
doubtless  in  response  to  this  petition  that,  on  July  28,  the  king 
addressed  letters  close  to  the  seneschal  confirming  the  exemptions 
and  privileges  on  wines  which  had  been  granted  to  Bordeaux  by 
John/^ 

During  this  troubled  year  the  commune  was  also  able  to  bring  to 
a  conclusion  negotiations  concerning  certain  debts.  John  had  on 
one  occasion  seized  432  dolia  of  wine  valued  at  1,400  marks.  Presum- 
ably this  had  been  owned  by  various  private  individuals,  but  by  indi- 
viduals w^ho  exerted  such  influence  in  the  comrnune  that  it  acted  for 
them,  since  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  English  govern- 
ment by  representatives  of  the  "university  of  Bordeaux."  Appar- 
ently some  of  these  claims  had  already  been  paid  and  negotiations 
concering  the  remainder  had  long  been  pending ;  for,  on  March  10, 
1220,  Hubert  issued  letters  patent  stating  that  he  had  finally  come 
to  an  agreement  w^ith  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux  {Sciatis  nos  Uneni 
fecisse  cum  Reimtindo  Divac  posito  loco  iiniversitatis  Biirdegale  pro^ 
etc.)  By  this  arrangement  600  marks  were  paid  to  the  citizens  in 
ten  yearly  installments.*^  While  thus  arranging  for  the  payment  of 
a  number  of  private  citizens  through  the  commune — for  we  can 
hardly  suppose  that  it  had  engaged  in  the  wine  trade  as  a  corporate 
body — Hubert  also  paid  another  debt  directly.  Geoffrey  Neville  had 
borrowed  money  from  Rustengo  Colom  to  the  amount  of  56a 
marks."**  The  Coloms  were  a  powerful  family  who  had  already 
received  favors  from  King  John.  The  brother  of  Rustengo  was  at 
this  time  mayor  of  Bordeaux  and  hence  it  is  not  surprising  that 
Hubert  took  prompt  measures  to  settle  their  claims.  Doubtless 
because  his  treasury  was  then  empty  he  conceded  to  Rustengo  one 
half  the  redditus  of  Bordeaux  until  the  debt  should  be  discharged. 

**  Rot.  lift,  claus.,  I,  425. 
"Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  229. 
*^Ibid.,  243. 


32 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  and  anarchy  in  Gascony  the  towns 
apparently  formed  the  centre  of  whatever  remained  of  a  royaHst  par- 
ty. Already  Niort  had  called  for  a  strong  seneschal,  and  William 
Gumbaud  had  asked  communal  aid  in  case  of  war  with  Hugh,  which 
war  had  been  averted  in  large  part  by  the  action  of  the  towns.*^  Hu- 
bert— evidently  depending  upon  the  loyalty  of,  at  least,  Bordeaux  and 
Bayonne — strove  anxiously  to  strengthen  them  against  possiible 
attack.  In  Bordeaux  he  commissioned  Rustengo  de  Soler  to  repair 
the  castle,  promising  to  repay  him  whatever  sum  he  should  expend  in 
so  doing.^°  Further,  he  authorized  the  levy  of  certain  special  taxes 
on  merchandise  brought  into  the  city,  the  proceeds  of  which  were 
to  be  expended  in  fortifying  the  town.  These  taxes  were,  however, 
to  be  collected  only  for  a  period  of  three  years,  and  the  goods  of  La 
Reole  were  to  be  exempt.^^  It  would  not  seem  impossible  that  these 
taxes  were  levied  at  the  suggestion,  and  wish  of  the  citizens,  who 
might  well  desire  stronger  defenses  in  the  midst  of  the  many  perils 
which  lowered  over  Gascony.  We  can  indeed  hardly  believe  that  at 
this  moment  Hubert  would  take  steps  affecting  the  burghers  which 
they  seriously  opposed.  To  such  provision  for  Bordeaux  Hubert 
joined  a  lesser  concession  to  Bayonne,  granting  25  pounds  (annually) 
from'  the  revenue  to  the  mayor,  twelve  and  council  for  fortifying 
the  town.^^ 

Finally,  Hubert  took  action  in  the  matter  of  despatching  a  strong- 
er seneschal.  The  appointment  seems  to  have  been  under  consider- 
ation by  the  government  for  some  time.  At  first  Hubert  thought  of 
conferring  the  office  upon  some  Gascon  noble  who  would  regard  the 

"It  will  be  recalled  that  during  these  troubled  years  the  oflfice  of  mayor 
at  Bordeaux  was  most  frequently  held  by  men  connected  with  the  English 
trade  (see  note,  page  22).  This  may  furnish  one  reason  for  the  loyalty  of 
Bordeaux. 

^Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  245. 

''  Ibid.,  242. 

"Rot.  lift,  claus.,  I,  472b. 


BEGINNING  OF  HENRY'S  REIGN  33 

honor  as  a  sufficient  recompense,  and  who  might  use  his  own  influence 
and  resources  in  the  king's  cause.  A  rumor  of  this  reached  Gascony 
and  indicated  the  viscount  of  Thouars  as  likely  to  be  chosen. 
Straightway  the  commune  of  Niort,  deeply  agitated,  despatched  to 
the  king  a  violent  denunciation  of  the  viscount,  concluding  with  the 
pious  hope  that  God  would  avert  any  such  appointment.  The  citizens 
entreat  the  king  to  send  them  as  seneschal  some  noble,  discreet,  wise 
and  powerful  person  from  England  (aliquem  ziriim  nobilem,  discre- 
tum  et  sapientem  potentem  de  partihiis  angliae).  The  cause  of  this 
outburst  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  viscount  and  the  commune  had  in 
the  past  been  enemies  and  the  citizens  feared  that  he  would  use  his 
powers  as  seneschal  to  repay  his  old  grudges.^^  Their  protest  was 
successful  in  preventing  the  appointment,  and,  apparently,  convinced 
the  justicular  of  the  unwisdom  of  conferring  the  office  on  a  Gascon. 
In  England  matters  were  now  going  a  little  better  and  Hubert  was  in 
a  position  to  support  an  English  representative.  At  the  time  of  the 
king's  coronation  he  had  persuaded  the  English  nobles  to  agree  to  a 
"free  gift"  of  two  shillings  on  every  kind  of  land  to  assist  the  king 
in  preserving  his  authority  in  Gascony.  Backed  by  this  support,  he 
announced  on  September  16  the  appointment  of  a  new  seneschal.^* 
Hubert's  choice  had  finally  fallen  upon  Philip  d'Ulecot,  a  man  whom 
the  government  had  already  employed  as  sheriff  of  Northumberland.^"* 
The  grant  made  by  the  Great  Council  had  not,  however,  removed 
all  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  government.  The  collection  of 
the  money  would  take  time  and  the  seneschal  would  need  funds  upon 
his  first  arrival  in  his  province.  Yet,  when  his  appointment  was 
announced,  a  sufficient  sum  was  not  yet  at  hand.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances Hubert  appealed  once  more  to  the  towns.  On  the  same 
day  that  he  informed  the  Gascons  of  the  choice  of  d'Ulecot  he  wrote 

^  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  126. 

^  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  249. 

"  See  under  the  name  in  the  index  of  the  above  volume. 


34 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


to  the  mayor  and  commune  of  La  Rochelle  asking  them  to  lend  the 
new  seneschal  500  marks.  Fearing  apparently  that  his  request 
might  not  be  complied  with  he  addressed  a  second  letter  to  the  probis 
hominihns  of  Bordeaux  asking  them  to  advance  the  money  if  La 
Rochelle  failed  to  do  so.  Hubert  solemnly  promised  to  repay  the 
money  within  forty  days  after  the  receipt  of  letters  from  Philip 
certifying  that  it  had  been  made.^®  Furthermore  Hubert  induced 
the  mayor  and  "university  of  London"  to  write  urging  one  or  other 
of  the  cities  to  advance  the  money  and  offering  themselves  as  pledges 
for  its  repayment. ^^  With  a  new  seneschal  thus  strengthened,  the 
English  government  might  hope  for  some  improvement  in  the  condi- 
tion of  their  troubled  continental  dependency. 

"■"Ibid.,  249. 
"'Ibid.,  266. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII,  1221-1227 

Continued  Anarchy  in  Gascony  and  Poitou.  Accession  of  Louis  VIII.  He 
renews  the  war.  Conquest  of  Poitou.  Attitude  of  the  towns.  Conces- 
sions to  the  towns.  Attack  on  Gascony.  Bordeaux  checks  the  French 
advance.  Castles  intrusted  to  the  towns.  Expedition  of  Richard  of  Corn- 
wall. Recovery  of  Gascony.  Failure  in  Poitou.  Part  played  by  the  towns 
in  the  campaigns. 

No  opportunity  was  afforded  the  new  seneschal  of  testing  the 
loyal  liberality  of  the  towns.  Appointed  in  September  he  died  in 
the  next  month/  and  a  new  choice  was  thus  rendered  necessary. 
Hubert  in  this  instance  selected  Hugh  de  Vivona  for  the  position  and 
transferred  to  his  name  the  letters  previously  mentioned  in  favor 
of  d'Ulecot.- 

The  new  seneschal  did  indeed  live  to  reach  Gascony  but  his  rule 
was  not  of  long  duration.  Appointed  in  January  of  122 1  he  was 
superseded  in  October  of  that  year  by  Savary  de  Mauleon,  a  Poitevin 
knight  and  troubadour,  who  remained  in  office  till  1224,  Both  Hugh 
and  Savary,  however,  faced  substantially  the  same  conditions  that 
had  confronted  Neville.  If  some  of  the  old  quarrels  had  been 
composed,  new  ones  had  broken  out. 

Of  new  complications  the  chief  was  a  violent  dispute  between  the 
citizens  of  La  Rochelle  and  the  viscount  of  Thouars,  the  former 

^  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  157. 
^  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  266. 


36  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

enemy  of  Niort.  This  arose  over  an  attempt  of  the  viscount  to  for- 
tify a  castle  near  the  city.  The  strengthening  of  this  castle  had 
been  forbidden  by  the  English,  possibly  because  they  distrusted  the 
fidelity  of  one  who  had  already  once  deserted  them.  Claiming  to 
act  under  royal  orders,  the  citizens  attempted  to  prevent  the  viscount's 
action,  whereupon  he  wrote  them  an  insulting  letter  beginning — as 
they  declared — Omnibus  rnsticis  agrestibus  de  Rupella,  malam  sa- 
lutcm.  In  this  he  further  declared — if  we  may  trust  their  account  of 
the  matter — that  he  would  fortify  his  castle  in  spite  of  them  and  of 
the  king  of  England.  If  they  objected  he  would  not  let  them  go  out- 
side their  walls.  Upon  receiving  this  missive  the  citizens  rose  in 
wrath  and  tore  down  the  castle.  But  they  were  no  match  for  the  vis- 
count, who  assembled  his  friends  and  allies  and  threatened  to  de- 
stroy the  vineyards  and  property  of  the  townspeople  outside  their 
walls.  Unable  to  defend  themselves,  they  were  forced  to  make  peace 
and  promise  to  atone  for  their  action  by  the  payment  of  500  marks. 

With  these  circumstances  they  made  haste  to  acquaint  the  king 
in  two  letters.^  In  the  second  they  enumerate  several  other  expenses 
which  they  have  had  to  meet  for  the  king's  service,  among  them  150 
sous  given  to  Savary  de  Mauleon  and  3,027  pounds  to  his  predeces- 
sor Geoffrey  Neville.  They  are  now  bankrupt  and  cannot  pay  the 
viscount  of  Thouars  the  money  promised,  and  they  close  by  be- 
seeching the  royal  aid. 

Such  a  wail  as  this  shows  vividly  the  chaos  that  reigned  in 
Poitou.  We  note,  also,  the  powerlessness  of  the  seneschal,  who 
nowhere  intervenes  or  is  even  consulted  in  the  quarrel.  We  may 
conjecture  that  at  least  one  reason  for  the  failure  of  the  English 
government  to  take  vigorous  action  was  the  fear  of  driving  the  side 
against  which  they  acted  over  to  the  French.  Already  one  of  the 
English  envoys  returning  from  the  French  court  had  informed  the 

'  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  185,  188. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII  37 

nuncios  of  La  Rochelle  that  he  had  heard  it  said  that  both  the  barons 
and  the  towns  of  Poitou  would  go  over  to  the  French  king  if  that 
monarch  desired  it.  Such  rumors  had  sufficient  verisimiHtude  to 
cause  the  mayor  and  burgesses  of  La  Rochelle  to  write  to  Henry 
denying  their  truth  and  passionately  protesting  their  loyalty.*  They 
cited  as  evidence  the  labors  and  sufferings  they  had  undergone  and 
were  undergoing  in  his  cause,  as  formerly  in  that  of  his  father. 
They  had  seen  their  houses  burned  and  their  vineyards  destroyed. 
Many  of  the  villages  without  the  city  were  weak  and  if  the  king 
would  give  them  the  prefecture  over  these  it  would  rejoice  the  citi- 
zens and  they  could  put  them  into  better  posture  of  defense  against 
his  enemies. 

The  citizens  protested  their  loyalty ;  but  how  far  could  it  be  relied 
upon  ?  They  declare  in  their  letter  that  many  wealthy  citizens  have 
fallen  into  poverty  through  the  dangers  of  war.  Their  property 
outside  the  walls  of  the  town  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  Poitevin  nobles ; 
could  the  citizens  fail  to  follow  in  their  lead?  It  was  here  no  mere 
question  of  keeping  open  good  markets  and  profitable  trade  routes. 
Of  what  use  were  these  when  it  rested  with  the  viscount  of  Thouars 
and  his  like  whether  there  should  be  any  wine  to  sell  ?  The  English 
king  could  not  restrain  these  lords  even  while  they  were  his  vassals 
in  name.  If.  then,  these  lords  deserted  to  the  French  and  La  Rochelle 
remained  loyal  to  the  English  the  new  suzerain  would  have  no  motive 
for  even  trying  to  restrain  his  new  vassals.  Under  such  circumstan- 
ces, would  not  La  Rochelle  be  practically  forced  to  cast  in  her  lot 
with  the  side  favored  by  the  surrounding  feudality?  Time  was  soon 
to  put  this  question  and  it  received  the  answer  which  we  might 
expect. 

While  La  Rochelle  was  thus  disputing  with  the  viscount  of 
Thouars  the  government's  relations  with  the  count  of  La  Marche 

*Ibid.,  194. 


38  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

were  becoming  strained.  The  count  had,  indeed,  concluded  a  peace 
with  Henry  and  promised  to  restore  the  royal  castles  and  other  prop- 
erty which  he  had  seized.  The  count  in  this  case  soon  proved  to  be 
more  ready  to  promise  than  to  perform,  and,  probably  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  king,  the  pope  ordered  the  dean  of  the  cathedral  chapter 
at  Bordeaux  to  excommunicate  the  count  if  he  did  not  fulfill  his 
engagements  within  reasonable  time.  As  nothing  was  done,  the  ex- 
communication was  ordered  in  June,  and  on  November  9  Hubert  in- 
structed the  dean  and  other  ecclesiastics  to  carry  out  the  sentence.^ 
In  December  of  this  year,  1222,  Henry  also  instructed  Savary  de 
Mauleon  to  resume  all  crown  lands  and  castles  alienated  without 
royal  consent.*'  This  must  have  seemed  to  the  seneschal  a  rather 
difficult  matter.  The  king  gave  him  some  assistance  by  ordering  the 
payment  of  arrears  due  the  government  by  the  towns,  cities  and 
castles  which  owed  them.  He  further  commanded  his  demesne  men 
to  receive  Savary  with  respect  and  confidence^  and  the  men  oi 
Entre-deux-Mers  were  ordered  to  return  to  their  lands  and  rendef 
their  due  service.  The  king  also  announced  to  the  Gascons  by  letters 
patent  that  Savary  was  empowered  to  receive  harborage  for  him.' 
Armed  with  these  mandates,  and  others  soon  to  be  mentioned,  Savary 
seems  to  have  been  able  to  take  some  action,  sufficient  at  least  to 
embroil  him  with  the  count  of  La  Marche.  In  August  of  1223  the 
count  complained  to  Henry  of  the  seneschal's  conduct  in  general  but 
without  going  into  details.  "You  should  know,"  he  writes,  "that 
Lord  Savary  de  Mauleon  is  working  grave  injury  and  most  serious 
damage  to  us  and  our  men  without  reasonable  cause,  and  will  not  de- 
sist from  his  evil  counsel,  which  thing  unless  it  be  for  the  sake  of  rev- 
erance  and  honor  to  you  we  cannot  tolerate  with  equanimity.     In 

"  Gasquet,  Henry  HI  and  the  Church,  72. 
'  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  202. 
''Ibid.,  200. 

^  Ibid..  201.     These  documents  are  also  printed  in  the  Pat.  Rolls,  1216- 
1225,  355-356. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII 


39 


truth,  if  peace  is  to  be  made  once  more  between  you  and  us,  you 
should  in  no  wise  sufifer  that  he  bring  injury  to  us  and  ours,  since 
we  will  recede  from  your  service  rather  than  suffer  from  him  such 
evils  and  injuries  without  vengeance."® 

This,  then,  was  the  first  fruit  of  Savary's  attempt  to  reassert  the 
royal  power  in  Poitou.  The  principal  seigneurs  of  that  region  were 
opposed  to  any  strong  central  government  and  sought  to  prevent  it 
by  balancing  the  French  against  the  English.  As  to  the  towns,  we 
may  suspect  that  they  were  already  looking  toward  France,  The 
main  lines  in  their  commerce,  doubtless,  ran  in  that  direction,^°  and 
they  may  well  have  despaired  of  the  English  power  ever  introducing 
order  among  the  turbulent  nobility. 

But  Gascony  as  well  as  Poitou  presented  difficult  problems  for 
the  seneschal.  There  the  towns,  not  being  checked  by  such  great 
seigneurs  as  those  of  the  north,  were  far  more  important.  Encour- 
aged by  the  weakness  of  the  government  they  now  began  to  conduct 
themselves  like  independent  republics.  By  the  close  of  the  year  1222 
Bordeaux  had  quarrelled  with  the  seneschal,  formed  a  confederation 
with  other  towns  and  lords,  sheltered  men  guilty  of  taking  and  burn- 
ing royal  castleS;  and  attempted  to  leyv'  a  tallage  on  the  people  of 
the  district  of  Entre-deux-Mers. 

Such  a  state  of  things  could  not  be  overlooked  or  the  royal 
authority  might  as  well  cease  to  exist.  The  dispute  with  the  seneschal 
Henry  settled  by  arbitration.  He  discussed  the  matter  with  the 
seneschal  and  with  representatives  of  the  townspeople,  and  issued 
letters  patent,  on  December  4,  dealing  with  the  question  at  issue.  In 
these  he  commanded  the  seneschal  to  protect,  defend  and  aid  the 
citizens,  while  they  were  to  render  the  customs  and  service  due 
under  the  reign  of  John.  He  despatched  to  them  Geoffrey  Neville 
to  exact  these  dues  and  services  from  them,  and  at  the  same  time  re- 

'  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  208. 

"Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angevins,  407. 


40 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


quired  the  citizens  to  add  to  their  communal  oath  the  clause  Saha 
■fide  nobis  debita  et  salvo  jure  nostro}'^ 

x\t  the  same  time  that  he  thus  attempted  to  deal  with  the  dispute 
between  the  seneschal  and  the  citizens  he  issued  letters  patent  con- 
cerning the  other  proceedings  of  the  townspeople.  He  forbade  their 
forming  confederacies  or  harboring  the  malefactors  who  had  de- 
stroyed his  castle,  and  prohibited  the  tallage.^^ 

In  a  fourth  letter  written  on  the  same  day  the  king  adjusted 
another  dispute,  namely,  that  concerning  Chitre.  This  man  had  been 
a  seneschal  under  Richard.^^  That  king  and  his  mother  Eleanor 
had  bestowed  on  him  the  terra  of  Beggles  for  life.  We  have  seen 
that  Elias  Viger  in  the  time  of  John  had  secured  possession  of  this 
estate,  representing  Chitre  as  dead.  Chitre  would  appear  to  have 
regained  possession  of  the  property ;  for  he  now  complains  that  the 
citizens  have  deprived  him  of  the  estate  and  have  destroyed  his 
castle  and  pulled  up  his  vineyards.  The  king  in  this  instance  com- 
mands them  to  make  immediate  restitution  and  to  permit  Chitre  to 
enjoy  the  property  in  peace. 

These  measures  would  certainly  seem  a  severe  rebuke  for  the 
citizens  of  Bordeaux.  There  is,  however,  no  evidence  that  they  re- 
sented them  or  offered  any  serious  opposition.  We  may  conjecture 
that  perhaps  the  seneschal  had  means  of  controlling  the  commune 
through  the  mayor.  It  is  at  least  suggestive  of  this  that  Peter  Viger, 
who  was  mayor  before  Savary's  arrival,  was  succeeded  by  Amaubin 
d'Alhan  who  continued  in  office  as  long  as  Savary  remained  seneschal, 
and  that  when  Savary  departed  Peter  Viger  again  became  mayor. 

"  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  196.    Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  353. 

*^Pa^  Rolls,  1216-1225,  354,  for  all  these  letters.  They  are  also  printed 
in  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  196  f.  We  may  note  in  passing  that  Bordeaux 
had  concluded  a  treaty  with  La  Reole  during  the  time  that  Peter  Viger  was 
mayor:  O'Reilley,  Hi^toire  de  Bordeaux,  I,  363. 

"  See  under  Chicre  in  the  index  to  the  Pat.  Rolls. 


ATTACK  OF  LO UIS  VIII  4 1 

Two  other  measures  affecting  the  townspeople  were  likewise 
taken  at  this  time.  There  had  been  dissension  in  La  Reole  and 
certain  of  the  citizens  had  been  expelled.  The  king  by  letters  patent 
ordered  that  they  be  peacefully  restored  by  the  seneschal,  and  the 
dispute  composed,  and  to  this  end  Geoffrey  Neville  was  called  upon  to 
give  his  counsel  and  assistance.  A  new  port  was  also  ordered  to  be 
established  at  La  Rochelle  and  the  money  raised  by  a  harbor  due.^* 

Before  Savary's  attempts  at  restoring  order  had  had  time  to  do 
much  beyond  irritate  those  like  the  count  of  La  Marche  who  had 
profited  by  the  disorders,  the  danger  from  France,  always  hovering 
in  the  background,  became  suddenly  threatening.  On  July  14,  1223, 
Philip  Augustus  died,  and  Louis  VIII  succeeded  him  upon  the  throne. 
The  change  of  soverigns  might  well  be  taken  as  presaging  a  change 
of  policy.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  reign  Philip's  policy  had  been 
distinctly  pacific.  The  new  king  had  already  shown  himself  inclined 
to  an  aggressive  course,  and,  almost  as  soon  as  he  had  succeeded  to 
the  throne,  the  expiration  of  the  truce  with  England  gave  him  an 
ample  pretext  to  attempt  the  completion  of  his  father's  conquests. 

It  was  soon  clear  that  when  the  truce  expired  in  May  of  1224, 
France  would  renew  the  war.  Even  when  this  was  certain  the 
English  were  unable  to  make  any  serious  preparation  for  defense,  as 
all  the  energy  of  the  government  was  for  the  time  required  to  put 
down  the  revolt  of  Faukes  de  Breaute  in  England.  While  England 
was  thus  rendered  helpless  by  her  internal  difficulties  the  situation  on 
the  continent  was  highly  favorable  to  the  French.  The  pope,  who 
before  had  so  strongly  upheld  the  English,  needed  French  aid  in 
Languedoc,  and  hence  could  no  longer  support  the  wavering  fortunes 
of  the  Plantagenets  by  spiritual  thunders.  The  count  of  La  Marche, 
dissatisfied  because  Henry  would  not  give  him  Niort  and  recall 
Savary,  was  already  won.     Other  barons,  such  as  the  viscounts  of 

"  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  204,  205.     Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  356,  357. 


42 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


Thouars  and  Chastellerault,  were  ready  to  sell  themselves  to  the 
highest  bidder,  who  in  this  case  was  Louis.^^  Even  the  towns  were 
soon  to  show  that  their  loyalty  was  uncertain.  Where  their  commer- 
cial interests  were  not  directly  involved  in  the  English  connection 
they  would  seem  to  have  had  little  motive  for  loyalty  to  Henry. 
Commercially  the  towns  of  Poitou  would  seem  to  belong  rather 
with  France  than  England.  Niort  and  St.  Jean-d'Angely  may  well 
have  preferred  a  master  who  could  curb  the  neighboring  lords  to 
keeping  open  the — for  them^ — distant  markets  of  England.  La  Ro- 
chelle  did  indeed  have  a  commerce  with  England,  and  she  may  have 
found  herself  divided  between  the  interests  there  involved  and  her 
fear  of  the  viscount  of  Thouars  and  of  the  count  of  La  Marche.  La 
Reole,  Bazas,  St.  fimilion  may  also  have  been  divided  between  those 
interested  in  English  trade  and  those  having  no  such  interests.  Cer- 
tainly the  French  king  could  hardly  expect  a  more  favorable  oppor- 
tunity. Both  he  and  his  father  had  always  treated  John's  forfeiture 
as  complete,  and  hostilities  had  been  merely  suspended  by  a  truce. 
He  now  simply  renewed  the  war.^** 

Hubert  was  unable  for  the  time  to  send  any  serious  help.  Never- 
theless, he  did  what  he  could.  He  placed  in  Savary's  hands  what 
funds  the  king  then  had  in  Gascony^^  and  appealed  to  the  towns  for 
further  assistance.  On  June  26,  he  issued  letters  patent  authorizing 
Savary  to  contract  a  loan  of  1,000  marks  for  the  defense  of  Poitou 
and  promising  to  repay  the  money  in  England. ^^  And,  on  the  same 
day,  a  similiar  letter  was  issued  authorizing  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux 
to  borrow  500  marks  for  fortifying  their  town  and  promising  that 
the  king  would  repay  it  to  whoever  would  advance  it.^". 

"Luchaire,  in  Lavisse,  Histoirc  dc  France,  IIP,  285. 

"  Tout,  in  Hunt  and  Poole,  Political  History  of  England,  III,  31- 

"Paf.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  447. 

"  Ibid. 

"  Ibid. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII  43 

Whatever  sums  the  seneschal  succeeded  in  getting  through  these 
letters,  Lojis  had  more.  If  we  are  to  trust  one  account  cited  by 
Luchaire,  the  French  king  marched  upon  Poitou  with  the  count  of  La 
Marche  and  "many  jewel  boxes  and  many  barrels  full  of  coins  did 
he  take  with  him  in  order  to  better  terminate  the  war."^''  Numerous 
chatelains  and  barons  were  brought  and  Louis  besieged  Savary  in 
Niort.  The  defense  of  this  place  was  brief.  Savary  yielded  on 
honorable  terms.  He  and  his  men  were  to  be  free  but  he  pledged 
himself  not  to  fight  against  the  French  before  All  Saints  except  at 
La  Rochelle.  To  this  stronghold  he  at  once  repaired.  Niort  taken, 
St.  Jean-d'Angely  yielded  without  a  blow.  The  viscount  of  Thouars 
made  a  truce  with  the  French  king,  and  a  force  which  was  despatched 
across  the  Garonne  received  the  submission  of  St.  fimilion  and  La 
Reole ;  but  finding  Bordeaux  loyal  did  not  venture  to  attack  that  city. 
In  the  north  the  English  had  now  but  one  stronghold,  La  Rochelle, 
and  this  Louis  beseiged  on  July  15.^^ 

So  far  the  main  reliance  of  the  seneschal  had  been  on  the  towns. 
It  was  to  them  that  he  must  look  for  money  at  any  rate.  The  nobles 
had  given  him  apparently  very  little  aid.  In  the  defense  of  La 
Rochelle  he  was  supported  vigorously  by  Bayonne,  which  equipped 
for  his  service  a  fleet  of  galleys  and  sent  with  them  a  detachment  cf 
400  men.^-  The  interest  of  the  citizens  of  Bayonne  in  the  defense 
is  easily  understood  when  we  recall  that  they  were  engaged  in  the 
carrying  trade  along  the  coast  from  their  own  town  to  Bordeaux  and 
La  Rochelle.  This  trade  might  be  compromised  if  that  city  passed 
into  French  hands.  Bordeaux  remained,  apparently,  an  indififerent 
spectator  to  the  siege.  We  may  conjecture  that  she  was  not  disposed 
to  view  with  great  dismay  a  French  victory  that  would  leave  her  the 
undisputed  center  of  Anglo-French  commerce. 

^  Luchaire,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  IIP,  286. 

'^  Ibid. 

"  Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  269. 


44 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


With  such  resources  as  the  seneschal  possessed,  we  might  expect 
the  siege  to  be  a  long  one.  Nevertheless,  on  August  3,  the  city- 
yielded  to  the  French.  The  mayor  and  commune  of  Bayonne  in  a 
letter  informing  the  king  of  this  disaster  distinctly  intimate  that 
treason  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  surrender.-^  Wendover,  the  chron- 
icler, affirms  that  it  was  the  citizens,  corrupted  by  the  gold  of  Louis, 
that  surrendered  the  city  f*  and  Matthew  Paris,  quoting  this  passage 
from  Wendover,  exclaims  indignantly  at  the  imiate  perfidy  of  the 
Poitevins,  adding  that  only  one  burgher  remained  faithful  to  Henry 
and  he  was  hanged  by  his  fellow  citizens.-^  Whether  or  not  these 
suspicious  were  wholly  just,  we  can  scarcely  avoid  feeling  that  there 
must  have  been  some  tendency  to  go  over  to  the  French.  We  have 
seen  how  much  at  the  mercy  of  the  viscount  of  Thouars  the  citizens 
were,  and  as  he  was  now  in  league  with  Louis,  it  would  not  be  a 
matter  for  surprise  if  they  did  not  offer  a  very  desperate  resistance. 

After  the  fall  of  La  Rochelle  there  soon  followed  another  disaster. 
Savary  de  Mauleon,  feeling  that  the  English  cause  was  hopeless, 
deserted  to  the  French.  By  this  defection,  which  took  place  in 
August  of  1224,  the  English  government  ceased  to  have  a  representa- 
tive on  the  continent  capable  of  directing  affairs,  and  this  at  a  moment 
when  the  fall  of  La  Rochelle  gave  Louis  possession  of  Poitou  and 
left  Gascony  open  to  attack. 

With  no  seneschal  there  could  be  no  common  or  concerted  resis- 
tance, and  under  such  circumstances  the  towns  were  of  absolutely 
vital  importance.  If  they  yielded  to  the  French  it  were  hard  to  see 
how  any  fragment  of  English  authority  could  have  been  preserved. 
Even  while  Savary  had  directed  affairs  they  had  been  his  chief  re- 
source.    That  the  English  government  appreciated  their  significance 

^  Ihid.  Luchaire,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  IIP,  286. 

^*  Chronica,  II,  277. 

^  Chronica  Major  a.  III,  84. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII 


45 


is  evident  from  its  policy  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  war. 
As  John  sought  to  repel  the  invasion  of  Alfonso  by  favors  to  the 
towns,  so  now  Hubert  strove  to  rally  them  to  his  support  by  favors 
and  at  the  same  time  to  strengthen  them  against  the  French  attacks. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  attempted  to  injure  the  French  by 
destroying  their  commerce  with  England.  With  this  in  view  he 
ordered  the  seizure  of  all  French  vessels  in  English  ports  and  the 
detention  of  all  vessels  bound  for  the  continent.  Yet  he  was  careful 
that  these  measures  did  not  injure  the  citizens  of  Bayonne  and 
Bordeaux,  since  he  released  numerous  ships  from  these  cities  which, 
under  his  previous  orders,  had  been  detained  in  port.^^  To  individ- 
ual citizens  in  both  Dax  and  Bayonne  he  granted  favors,  making  gifts 
to  certain  ones,  possibly  envoys,  to  pay  their  expenses  to  England.^^ 
He  further  extended  to  two  merchants  of  Dax  permission  to  bring 
their  wine  and  other  merchandise  to  England  during  two  years. ^^ 
Large  quantities  of  wine  were  purchased  of  the  Gascon  merchants 
on  credit.  Was  this  wine  wholly  intended  for  present  use  or  was 
this  in  some  cases  a  settlement  of  old  claims?  The  documents 
furnish  us  with  no  grounds  for  answer.  In  any  case  a  number  of 
merchants  received  payment  for  varying  quantities  of  wine.  At 
Bordeaux  there  were  more  than  twenty  such  payments  during  the 
year.-^  Among  these  merchants  figure  a  John  de  Solers  and  several 
Coloms.  Vigorous  measures  were  also  taken  to  put  the  towns  in 
a  posture  of  defense  by  improving  their  fortifications.  To  the  mayor 
and  prud'  hommes  of  Bayonne  Hubert  conceded  certain  revenues 
during  four  years,  the  money  to  be  used  in  strengthening  the  town.^** 
At  Bordeaux,  also,  he  authorized  the  citizens  to  contract  a  loan  of 

'^Rot.  lift,  claus.,  I,  620,  611  b,  646  b;  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  498. 

'"Rot.  litt.  claus.,  I,  626;  II,  7,  21,  12. 

'^Paf.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  498. 

^'' Rot.  litt.  claus.,  I,  585,  610  b,  639,  623  b,  645,  etc. 

^'' Ibid.,  619;  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  467. 


46  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

500  marks  for  strengthening  their  walls.^^  Whether  the  loan  was 
made  or  not,  the  citizens  of  that  town  acted  with  energy.  They  re- 
paired the  walls,  pulling  down  houses  where  necessary,  and  in  other 
ways  prepared  themselves  to  resist  an  attack.  Their  preparations 
seem  to  have  exceeded  any  aid  they  had  received  from  the  king,  for 
during  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle  the  mayor  and  common  council  wrote 
to  Hubert  telling  him  that  Niort  and  St.  Jean-d'Angely  had  surren- 
dered needlessly  to  the  French.  They  recited  the  measures  of 
defense  which  they  had  undertaken  and  the  great  expense  incurred, 
and  significantly  remarked  that  they  trusted  Hubert  would  assist  their 
envoys  in  the  business  which  they  were  bringing  before  the  royal 
curia.'*^  What  the  business  was  we  are  not  informed ;  but  it  is  at 
least  suggestive  that  on  August  2,  Henry  despatched  letters  patent 
to  Savary,  who  had  not  yet  deserted,  together  with  all  his  bailififs, 
and  other  officers,  in  which  he  declared  that  because  of  the  great  ex- 
pense incurred  by  his  faithful  citizens  of  Bordeaux  he  concedes  to 
them  for  four  years  all  royal  revenues  in  their  city.^^  This  grant 
was  indeed  cancelled ;  but  the  succeeding  entries  make  it  clear  that  it 
was  replaced  by  a  direct  payment  of  money.  For,  on  August  25,  the 
king  ordered  his  treasurer  to  pay  to  two  nuncios  of  Bordeaux  500 
marks  to  aid  the  citizens  and  in  November  he  gave  to  Bernard  d' 
Acra  and  his  associates,  apparently  the  nuncios  of  the  commune, 
2,000  marks  to  be  used  by  the  Bordelais  in  strengthening  their 
defenses.^* 

But  while  thus  bestowing  favors  on  individuals  and  putting  the 

^'- Paf.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  447. 

^^  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  231. 

^^  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  458. 

^*  Ibid.,  497;  Rot.  litt.  claus.,  TI.  5  b.  D'Acra,  who  had  already  been  twice 
mayor  of  Bordeaux,  seems  to  have  used  his  stay  in  England  for  his  own  ad- 
vantage, for,  on  the  same  day  that  the  2,000  marks  were  ordered  paid  over 
to  him,  letters  patent  were  issued  giving  him  the  right  to  carry  on  trade  with 
England  for  two  years.    Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  496. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII 


47 


towns  in  a  position  of  defense,  Hubert  also  granted  more  general  con- 
cessions. On  November  14,  by  letters  patent,  the  mayor  and  bailiffs 
of  Bordeaux  were  ordered  to  protect  and  defend  the  citizens  and 
merchants  of  Dax  who  might  come  to  those  parts  with  merchandise, 
to  receive  them  w'ell  and  to  permit  no  infraction  of  the  liberties  they 
held  from  Richard  and  John.^^  Earlier  in  the  year — on  July  10 — 
the  king,  at  the  petition  of  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux,  conceded  to 
them  a  commune  and  an  elective  mayor,  merely  commanding  the 
election  of  a  mayor  loyal  to  himself.^^  Now  Bordeaux  had  long  had 
a  commune,  but  before  this  time  had  the  mayor  been  elective?  It 
would  seem  difficult  or  impossible  to  answer  such  a  question  with 
certainty.  If  the  mayor  was  already  elective,  this  privilege  was 
merely  a  confirmation  of  existing  conditions;  yet  that  such  a  con- 
firmation was  valuable  to  the  members  of  the  commune  would  be 
indicated  by  the  fact  of  their  petition.  Yet  the  right  to  choose  a 
mayor  may  have  been  a  new  concession.  We  have  seen  that  during 
most  of  the  administration  of  Savary  de  Mauleon  but  one  person 
held  this  office,  Amaubin  d'Alhan.  This  might  suggest  that  the 
mayor  was  appointive,  or  else  that  Savary  was  interfering  with  his 
free  election — in  either  case  a  sufficient  reason  for  a  royal  grant. 
Possibly  the  mayor  had  been  appointed  by  the  seneschal  up  to  the  an- 
archy follow^ing  the  death  of  John.  With  the  collapse  of  the  English 
power  in  the  opening  of  Henry's  reign,  we  may  well  imagine  that 
the  townspeople  began  to  elect  their  mayors.  In  that  case  Savary 
may  have  restored  the  old  method  and  the  townspeople  regretted 
their  recently-tasted  freedom.  If  so,  now  was  surely  an  opportune 
time  to  secure  the  privilege.  At  any  rate  the  change,  if  change  there 
was,  made  little  difference  with  the  character  of  the  mayors,  since 
we  find  Peter  Viger,  who  had  preceded  d'Alhan  in  office,  now  elected 
to  succeed  him.    Whatever  the  exact  meaning  of  the  concession,  it 

'^  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  498. 
"  Ihid.,  449. 


48 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


was,  if  we  may  trust  the  language  of  the  document,  a  real  concession, 
that  is,  something  desired  and  asked  for  by  the  commune. 

Such  a  series  of  concessions  as  we  have  now  enumerated  can  only 
have  been  intended  to  rally  and  consolidate  a  pro-English  party  on 
the  continent.  Evidently  the  English  government  regarded  the 
towns  as  most  important  to  its  hold  on  Gascony.  Especially  was  this 
true  of  Bordeaux,  the  largest  and  most  important  of  the  southern 
towns.  The  test  of  this  policy  was  now  to  come,  for  Louis,  having 
conquered  Poitou,  turned  on  Gascony. 

Remaining  at  Poitiers  himself,  the  French  king  sent  his  army  and 
the  count  of  La  Marche  to  the  conquest  of  the  south."  There  was 
no  English  force  to  oppose  them  and  no  seneschal  to  direct  a  resist- 
ance. The  nobles  were  probably  indifferent,  friendly  or  frightened ; 
some  of  the  towns  yielded  without  a  blow.  In  a  short  time  St.  £mi- 
lion,  St.  Macaire,  Langon,  La  Reole  and  Bazas  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  French.  It  seemed  for  a  moment  that  Gascony  might  be  won 
as  easily  as  Poitou,  but  the  hopes  of  such  an  easy  victory  were  speed- 
ily shattered  by  the  resistance  of  Bordeaux.  Commanding  as  it  did 
the  commerce  of  the  Garonne  its  position  as  well  as  its  wealth  and 
population  made  it  essential  to  a  permanent  occupation  of  the  south, 
and  Bordeaux  soon  showed  herself  stubbornly  loyal  to  the  English 
cause.  Had  Louis  advanced  with  his  whole  force  he  might,  perhaps, 
have  won  f^  but  various  causes  prevented  such  energetic  action. 
Summer  was  advanced,  the  pope  was  protesting,  and  the  French 
king  decided  to  suspend  the  campaign  for  the  winter.  That  it  would 
be  renewed,  however,  there  seemed  little  doubt.^® 

Having  returned  to  Paris,  in  September,  Louis  was  welcomed 
as  a  conqueror  and  made  haste  to  secure  his  hold  upon  his  new  pos- 

^' Luc'haire,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  IIP,  287;  Shirley,  Royal  Let- 
ters, I,  236. 

''  Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angevins,  410. 
'"  Ibid. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII  49 

sessions.  Realizing,  doubtless,  the  instability  of  his  position  on  the 
Garonne,  he  sought  to  counterbalance  the  resistance  of  Bordeaux. 
To  La  Reole  and  St.  fimilion  he  granted  exemption  from  all  customs 
in  Poitou,'**^  hoping  doubtless  to  compensate  them  for  the  loss  of  their 
river  commerce.*^ 

With  matters  in  such  shape  Henry  could  not  afford  to  relax  his 
grip  on  any  part  of  Gascony.  It  was  essential  that  the  castles  be  put 
in  loyal  hands  and  the  townspeople  seemed  more  trustworthy  than 
the  barons.  On  November  14,  by  letters  patent,  he  placed  the  castles 
of  Dax,  La  Fave  and  Farina,  with  the  adjacent  territory,  under  the 
control  of  the  citizens  of  Dax,  Bayonne  and  Bordeaux.*-  Such  action 
is  especially  noteworthy  when  we  remember  that  in  Poitou  many 
chatelains  had  sold  their  castles  to  Louis.*^ 

Such  was  the  posture  of  affairs  at  the  close  of  1224.  Matters 
were  serious  indeed,  but  not  yet  desperate.  Soon  after,  September 
21,  Hugh  de  Vivona  wrote  to  the  king  to  set  forth  the  situation.  He 
states  the  successes  of  the  French  king  and  the  towns  that  have 
yielded  to  him ;  but  he  adds  that  the  citizens  of  St.  fimilion  and  La 
Reole  have  refused  to  allow  any  French  soldiers  within  their  walls. 
Nothing  has  been  lost,  he  declares,  that  may  not  be  easily  recovered 
if  the  king  will  but  send  aid  and  that  at  once.'** 

Such  optimistic  reports  found  the  English  government  in  a  posi- 
tion to  take  more  active  measures.  Faukes  de  Breaute  had  at  last 
been  crushed  and  Hubert  could  turn  his  attention  to  the  continent. 
He  would  seem  to  have  felt  little  enthusiasm  for  the  war,  still  he 

**'Luchaire,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  IIP,  287. 

"  Bordeaux  would  appear  to  have  closed  the  river  against  all  commerce, 
for  the  first  part  of  1225  is  marked  by  three  letters  patent  giving  merchants 
license  to  trade  there  and  forbidding  the  Bordelais  to  interfere  with  them. 
No  such  licenses  have  occurred  before  and  at  this  time  they  would  seem  sug- 
gestive. 

^  Pat.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  497. 

^  Luchaire,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  IIP,  287. 

**  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  236. 


go  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

could  not  allow  the  king  in  whose  name  he  governed  to  be  despoiled 
without  an  effort.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Great  Council  he  was  given 
a  fifteenth  of  rents  and  chattels  expressly  for  the  recovery  of  Poitou.*^ 
It  has  been  computed  that  these  grants  brought  in,  in  the  end,  about 
57,000  pounds.  Thus  for  the  first  time  since  Henry's  accession  the 
English  authorities  on  the  continent  would  have  money.  Nor  were 
alliances,  whatever  they  might  turn  out  to  be  worth,  wanting.  Though 
the  pope  had  so  signally  aided  him,  Henry's  advisers  felt  no  scruple 
at  promising  secret  aid  to  the  excommunicated  count  of  Toulouse.^** 
Peter  Mauclerc  of  Brittany  was  also  enlisted  as  an  ally  and  the  sail- 
ors of  Gascony  and  the  Cinque  Ports  were  let  loose.*^ 

The  expedition  with  its  way  thus  prepared  was  placed  in  charge 
of  Richard,  earl  of  Cornwall  and  younger  brother  of  the  king.  As 
Richard  was  but  sixteen  years  of  age,  veteran  advisers  accompanied 
him  and  held  the  real  command.  The  force  despatched  from  Eng- 
land was  indeed  small,  but  reinforcements  would  be  easy  to  find  if 
there  were  funds  to  pay  them. 

In  May,  1225,  Richard  landed  at  Bordeaux  with  a  small  force."*® 
He  was  greeted  by  all  the  citizens,  in  the  presence  of  the  archbishop, 
and  letters  from  his  royal  brother  were  read  in  which  the  king  hum- 
bly supplicated — Jinmiliter  snpplicaznt*^ — all  his  faithful  subjects  of 
those  parts  to  give  Richard  an  amiable  reception  and  to  lend  him 
aid  and  counsel  in  recovering  his  territories.  This  royal  appeal  did 
not  fall  upon  deaf  ears.  In  April  Peter  Viger  had  been  succeeded  as 
mayor  by  Amaneus  Colom.  Apparently,  then,  the  wine  merchants 
controlled  the  commune.  Richard  could,  indeed,  look  forward  to 
supplies  of  money  from  England  ;  still  they  would  seem  hardly  to 
have  been  sufficient  for  his  need.    The  towns  of  Bordeaux  and  Bay- 

"  Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angei'ins,  410. 

^'Luchaire,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  TIP,  288. 

*' Davis,  Ibid. 

"  Luchaire,  Ibid. 

"Wendover,  Chronica,  II,  283. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII 


51 


onne — either  at  this  time  or  a  Httle  later — came  to  his  assistance  and 
voted  him  a  mala  tolta  or  special  tax,^'^  and  Peter  de  Bosco,  a  citizen 
of  Bordeaux,  advanced  him  money  for  the  purchase  of  horses. ^^ 

In  the  early  part  of  August  Richard  received  from  England  a 
shipment  of  treasure,  which  comprised  6,000  marks  of  silver,  besides 
gold,  jewels  and  other  precious  objects.^^  With  this  support  and 
the  revenues  from  the  mala  tolta  the  English  cause  rapidly  gained 
ground.  The  French  hold  upon  the  Gascon  towns  seems  never  to 
have  been  strong.  We  have  seen  them  refusing  to  admit  French 
soldiers.  The  French  power,  therefore,  rested  merely  on  the  pres- 
ence of  their  army  and  their  garrisons  in  various  castles  such  as 
that  of  La  Reole.  Apparently  considering  it  necessary  to  their  posi- 
tion, the  French  again  attempted  to  gain  Bordeaux,  and  this  time  by 
winning  the  archbishop.  They  offered  to  endow  him  and  his  succes- 
sors with  "competent  revenues"  if  he  would  change  sides,  but  he  re- 
fused and  reported  their  offers  to  the  king.  To  avenge  themselves 
they  seized  some  of  his  revenues  at  La  Rochelle  and  refused  to  allow 
him  to  enter  the  territory  they  held.^^ 

Richard  and  his  forces  moved  against  the  various  towns  and 
castles  of  Gascony  that  had  been  taken.  The  castle  of  La  Reole  was 
captured  after  a  long  seige ;  the  towns  of  Bazas  and  St.  Macaire 
yielded ;  Bergerac  was  blockaded  and  its  lord  recalled  to  his  fidelity ; 
Hugh  of  Lusignan  was  defeated  in  an  attempt  to  raise  the  siege  of 
La  Reole.^*    Little  by  little  all  Gascony  returned  to  English  rule. 

Gascony  had  been  saved  by  the  close  of  1225 ;  but  the  English 
did  not  yet  acquiesce  in  the  loss  of  Poitou.    Richard  still  continued 

°'' Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  287;  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  150.  The  tax  in  question 
was  one  on  commercial  transactions;  see  Langlois,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de 
France,  IIP,  253. 

"Pof.  Rolls,  1216-1225,  543. 

^'^  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  261,  262. 

"  Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  278. 

"Wendover,  Chronica,  II,  284;  Lettres  de  rois,  I,  35. 


52 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


war,  and  his  treasure  being  exhausted  he  was  forced  to  rely  more 
or  less  on  the  Bordeaux  wine  merchants.  On  February  5,  King 
Henry  paid  32  pounds,  10  shillings  to  William  Raymond  (perhaps 
W.  R.  Colom)  of  Bordeaux,  which  he  had  advanced  for  the  royal 
use.^^  In  the  same  month  he  paid  500  marks  to  William  Raymond 
Colom  and  his  brother  Rustengo  and  200  marks  to  Amaneus  Colom, 
which  sums  had  been  lent  to  Richard.  In  May  he  paid  Amaneus 
Colom  and  William  Bernard  200  pounds  which  they  had  advanced 
to  his  brother.^*'  In  June  he  announced  that  the  money — amount  not 
specified — wdiich  Amaneus  Colom,  William  Raymond  Colom  and 
Bernard  d'  Acra  had  advanced  to  William  Lungspe  would  be  repaid 
them.^^  Finally,  in  December,  he  wrote  to  Amaneus  and  W.  R. 
Colom  asking  them  to  lend  1,000  pounds  to  his  brother.^^  Such  loans 
may  have  had  great  importance  to  the  English  cause,  though  how 
great  we  can  scarcely  estimate. 

Louis,  involved  in  a  renewal  of  the  Albigensian  crusade,  had  so 
far  offered  no  very  energetic  resistance  to  the  English.  The  pope 
also  came  to  Henry's  aid  and  gave  him  what  support  he  was  able. 
In  January  he  issued  a  mandate  to  a  number  of  the  Poitevin  lords, 
among  them  the  count  of  La  Marche  and  the  viscount  of  Thouars, 
commanding  them  to  return  at  once  to  their  allegiance  to  the  English 
king,  notwithstanding  any  oaths  they  may  have  taken  to  the  contrary, 
and  giving  orders  that  if  they  do  not  obey  they  are  to  be  compelled 
thereto  by  papal  sentence.  Moreover,  he  exhorted  the  archbishop  of 
Dublin  to  obtain  a  subsidy  for  the  king  from  the  churches  of  Ire- 
land.^^  In  June,  he  commanded  Louis  to  recall  his  letters  of  banish- 
ment against  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux. 

^'^  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  13;  Rot.  lift,  clans.,  II,  94  b. 
^Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  21. 
"Rot.  litt.  claus.,  II,  122b. 
''^  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  95. 
''°  Papal  Letters,  I,  104,  105. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  J' III  53 

This  support  may  have  been  worth  much  to  the  EngHsh,  although 
the  Poitevin  lords,  such  as  the  count  of  La  Marche,  had  never  shown 
any  great  fear  of  papal  mandates.  Of  far  more  service  to  their 
cause,  however,  was  the  death  of  the  energetic  Louis  in  October, 
1226,  which  left  an  infant  king  under  the  regency  of  a  woman.  True, 
the  woman  in  question  was  Blanche  of  Castile,  but  her  ability  and 
resolution  had  yet  to  be  revealed,  and  her  accession  was  followed  by 
an  outbreak  of  turbulence  on  the  part  of  the  French  nobles,  jealous 
of  the  growing  power  of  the  crown. 

Under  these  circumstances  Richard  made  some  headway.  By  the 
grant  of  Niort  the  count  of  La  IMarche  was  won  over,^^  and  a  simi- 
lar policy  won  other  lords  as  well.^'-  The  regency  of  Blanche  of  Cas- 
tile was  viewed  with  much  dissatisfaction  by  the  feudal  lords.  Among 
those  thus  discontented  Richard  soon  found  allies.  Yet  the  advan- 
tage to  the  English  was  slight.  Blanche  acted  with  vigor"-  and  the 
combination  fell  to  pieces  as  its  members  were  intent  only  in  pursu- 
ing their  individual  interest.  Richard,  deserted  by  his  treacherous 
Poitevins,  concluded  a  truce  with  the  French  and  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  May,  1227.°^ 

Henry,  who  had  just  declared  himself  of  age  to  govern,  might 
well  think  it  pn:dent  to  reward  those  men  in  Gascony  to  whom  he 
owed,  to  some  extent,  the  preservation  of  a  remnant  of  his  conti- 
nental empire.  In  June  he  granted  letters  of  protection  of  indefinite 
duration  to  Raymond  and  Arnold  de  Port  of  La  Reole,  nephews  of 
Bernard  d'  Acra.®*  Very  possibly  they  had  been  leaders  in  the  Eng- 
lish faction  in  that  town,  or  perhaps  it  was  merely  the  influence  of 
their  uncle  in  Bordeaux  which  secured  them  the  favor.    On  October 

""Rymer,  Poedera,  I,  288;  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  301. 
'^  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  302. 
^  Langlois,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  IIP,  7. 

^Wendover,  Chronica,  II,  320.  The  truce  was  signed  July  17.  Rymer, 
Foedera,  I,  294. 

^  Pat   Rolls,  122S-12Z2,  128. 


54 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


I,  Henry  conferred  on  Rustengo  de  Solers  for  his  homage  and  ser- 
vice the  lands  which  Chitre  had  in  La  Foreste,  Les  Cumes,  and  Cor- 
byac.  This  Chitre,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  given  the  estate 
of  Beggles  for  life  by  Richard  and  the  Bordelais  had  got  into 
trouble  by  seizing  it.  These  other  lands  were  now  conferred  on  Rus- 
tengo — not  for  life,  but  in  perpetuity — and  in  return  therefor  he  was 
to  render  annually  to  the  king  a  sore-hawk.*'^  Rustengo  also  called 
attention  to  the  debt  for  the  wine  which  John  had  seized  and  for 
which  the  king  had  promised  payment  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign. 
The  government,  impoverished  as  it  had  hitherto  been,  had  seemingly 
not  yet  discharged  this  debt,  and  it  now  compounded  with  Rusteng-o 
for  60  marks  to  be  paid  in  three  installments.^*^ 

When  Richard  returned  to  England  the  acute  crisis  in  the  fate 
of  Gascony  was  passed.  The  truce  with  France  had  marked  the 
abandonment,  for  the  time  being,  of  the  attempt  to  expel  the  Plante- 
genets.  For  the  present,  at  least,  they  were  to  retain  their  diminished 
territories  on  the  continent.  The  war,  however,  had  not  been  with- 
out its  results.  The  greater  part  of  Poitou  remained  in  French 
hands,  but  Gascony  they  bad  failed  to  conquer.  From  the  accession 
of  John  till  1225  the  English  power  had  steadily  declined.  Bit  by 
bit  their  territories  had  been  seized  by  the  rising  French  monarchy. 
Now,  however,  the  most  serious  efifort  of  the  French  to  drive  them 
wholly  from  the  continent  had  failed,  though  made  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions,  and  one  considerable  province  still  remained 
in  their  hands.  The  reason  for  the  French  failure  we  have  already 
seen.  It  was  Bordeaux  that  checked  the  French  advance.  The 
towns  had  aided  the  English  to  recover  their  lost  ground  and  drive 
the  French  from  Gascony.  They  formed,  we  may  conclude,  the  basis 
of  the  English  power.  But  for  the  towns  it  would  seem  that  Gascony 
would  have  fallen  either  to  Alfonso  or  to  Louis.     The  reason  for 

«'  Charter  Rolls,  I,  61. 

^^  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  146. 


ATTACK  OF  LOUIS  VIII 


55 


this  loyalty  we  have  already  seen  in  part.  At  Bordeaux  the  commune 
was  apparently  controlled  by  a  group  of  merchants  trading  with 
England,  and  hence  anxious  to  maintain  the  connection  of  the  Gascon 
duchy  and  the  English  crown.  Bayonne,  with  the  carrying  trade 
of  the  coast  in  her  hands  and  extensive  interests  in  the  trade  between 
Bordeaux  and  England,  worked  for  the  same  end.  No  doubt  the 
favors  they  received  were  instrumental  in  promoting  their  devotion, 
but  they  were  not  wholly  responsible  for  creating  it.  Back  of  priv- 
ileges and  favors  there  lay  the  permanent  force  of  economic  interest 
binding  the  Gascon  communes  to  the  English  cause.  Where  such 
interests  did  not  exist  for  the  king  to  build  upon,  favors  and  conces- 
sions were  of  little  permanent  use.  Such  seems  to  have  been,  in 
large  part,  the  case  in  Poitou.  There,  moreover,  the  towns  were 
overshadowed  to  some  extent  by  the  turbulent  nobility.  The  towns 
could  not,  therefore,  in  this  region,  form  a  solid  basis  for  English 
rule  as  they  had  done  in  Gascony,  and  this  basis  being  lacking,  allian- 
ces with  the  shifty  and  treacherous  feudal  lords  were  but  a  sorry 
substitute  and  could  not  give  the  English  king  a  durable  supremacy. 


CHAPTER  IV 

GASCONY  IN  1227-1230  AND  HENRY'S  FIRST  EXPEDITION 
AGAINST  POITOU 

Administration  of  Henry  de  Trubleville.  His  relations  with  tlie  nobles  and 
the  towns.  Parties  in  the  towns,  their  origin  and  character.  Expedition 
of  Henry  against  Poitou,  in  1230.  Support  given  by  the  towns,  military 
and  financial. 

Thej  war  with  France  closed,  the  English  government  had  to 
face  the  same  problem  that  had  confronted  it  before  the  attack  of 
Louis  VIII,  namely,  to  construct  a  central  government  in  Gascony 
which  could  maintain  order  in  the  midst  of  the  many  elements  of 
discord  which  that  province  contained.  One  advantage  the  southern 
region  had  over  Poitou,  there  were  few  such  great  feudal  princes 
as  the  count  of  La  Marche  and  viscount  of  Thouars.  Only  one 
such  seigneur  was  to  be  found,  namely,  the  viscount  of  Beam.  The 
place  of  the  great  seigneurs  in  the  south  was  taken  by  many  lesser 
barons  and  by  the  powerful  communes.  Yet  these  were  sufficiently 
difficult  of  control. 

After  Richard's  return  to  England,  Henry — or  Hubert  who  still 
governed  in  his  name — appointed  a  certain  Henry  de  Trubleville  as 
seneschal.  In  order  to  increase  his  revenues,  the  king,  on  October 
22,  requested  the  towns  of  Bayonne  and  Bordeaux  to  continue  for 
two  years  the  mala  tolta  in  wine  which  they  had  granted  to  Richard, 
promising  that  he  would  then  renounce  all  right  to  it  both  for  himself 
and  his  successors.^     Trubleville,  armed  with  this  concession,  was 

^  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  150. 


GASCONY  FROM  1227  TO  1230  57 

in  a  position  to  take  up  with  better  hopes  of  success  the  old  problems 
that  had  baffled  Geoffrey  Neville  and  Savary  de  Mauleon.  The 
loss  of  Poitou  was  in  itself  an  assistance.  Rid  of  entanglements  in 
the  north  he  could  devote  all  his  energy^  to  Gascony,  where  indeed  he 
found  enough  to  occupy  him. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  his  administration  two  general  parties 
seemed  to  define  themselves  in  the  province;  on  the  one  side  stood 
the  townspeople  and  on  the  other  the  various  feudal  lords.  The  rea- 
sons for  the  opposition  of  two  such  elements  are  surely  not  far  to 
seek.  The  seigneurs  might  derive  advantage  from  innumerable  prac- 
tices and  conditions  to  which  the  burghers — at  least  a  large  number 
of  them — were  opposed.  Opportunities  of  friction  would  be  almost 
innumerable.  There  was  not  a  toll  or  a  due  exacted  by  a  baron  which 
might  not  arouse  the  anger  and  resentment  of  one  or  another  of  the 
towns.  But  the  chaos  struck  yet  deeper ;  for  several  of  the  towns 
were  torn  by  bitter  factional  disputes.  Evidently  the  task  of  main- 
taining order  would  be  no  light  one  for  the  seneschal. 

Trubleville  had  scarcely  arrived  in  his  province  wdien  he  found 
himself  involved  in  the  disputes  which  disturbed  the  country.  In  as 
much  as,  at  a  later  time,  the  nobles  took  occasion  to  laud  him  as  an 
ideal  seneschal  we  may  surmise  that  he  deemed  it  wise  to  side  with 
them  to  a  considerable  degree.  It  was  perhaps  a  result  of  this 
tendency  toward  an  aristocratic  alliance,  manifest  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  his  administration,  which  involved  him  in  trouble  with  the 
towns.  Bayonne,  whose  relations  with  the  neighboring  seigneurs 
were  not  of  the  friendliest,  refused  at  the  start  to  render  him  the 
customary  oath.^  He  appealed  to  the  king,  asking  him  to  force  the 
unruly  citizens  to  adopt  a  more  loyal  attitude,  and  besought  Rustengo 
de  Soler,  who  had  been  appointed  custodian  of  Bayonne,  for  aid  in 
his  difficulties.     The  citizens  had  engaged  in  a  bitter  private  war 

*  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  317. 


58  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

with  some  of  the  surrounding  lords.  They  were  now  devastating  the 
lands  of  their  foes  and  seizing  their  men,  and  both  Rustengo  and  the 
seneschal  found  themselves  powerless  to  protect  the  nobles,  who  in 
vain  appealed  to  them,  protesting  their  entire  willingness  to  do 
full  justice  to  the  burghers.  The  Bayonnese  proved  utterly  refrac- 
tory and  resisted  all  attempts  of  Trubleville  and  his  ally  to  restrain 
them.  In  despair  the  seneschal  and  the  custodian  besought  the 
king  to  detain  all  Bayonnese  ships  in  English  ports  as  a  means  of 
coercing  the  turbulent  citizens.^ 

Whether  or  not  the  king  complied  with  this  request  we  are  not 
informed;  but  the  seneschal  was  apparently  aided  by  disturbances 
in  the  town  itself.  Bayonne  had  hitherto  seemed  to  act  as  a  unit 
against  the  nobles ;  but  the  burghers  were  in  reality  divided  into  two 
parties  whose  mutual  hostility  now  displayed  itself  in  riots.  The 
leaders  of  these  factions  were  John  Dardir  and  Michael  de  Mans. 
According  to  the  provisions  of  the  Etablissements  de  Rouen,  extend- 
ed to  Bayonne  by  John,  the  mayor  was  named  by  the  king  from  a 
list  of  three  candidates  presented  to  him  by  the  commune.  In  the 
spring  of  1228  the  commune  made  the  usual  nominations,  and,  on 
April  4,  the  king  authorized  Trubleville  to  make  choice  in  his  place.* 
Concerning  the  party  affiliations  of  the  three  candidates  there  is 
nothing  to  be  found.  One  of  them  may  have  been  affiliated  with  the 
Mans  party  or  one  may  have  made  terms  with  Trubleville  in  return 
for  the  appointment.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  seneschal  ignored 
the  list  altogether  and  named  a  mayor  independently,  as  later  senes- 
chals were  to  do."^  Whatever  the  means  employed,  it  would  seem 
from  what  followed  that  the  control  of  the  commune  passed  to  the 
Mans  faction,  which  seems  to  have  been  favored  by  the  seneschal. 

^  Ibid.,  319. 

*  Close  Rolls,  1227-1231,  98. 

"Nicholas  de  Molis  thus  appointed  Peter  Rosset  (Pierre  Darroseis)  and 
William  de  Boell  named  J.  Dardir.     Balasque,  £tudes,  II,  99. 


GASCON Y  FROM  1227  TO  1230  59 

Whether  or  not  these  conjectures  be  accurate,  it  is  at  least  certain 
that  the  two  parties  soon  came  to  blows  and  that  the  Dardir  faction, 
instead  of  acting  through  the  commune,  as  doubtless  they  would 
have  done  had  they  been  in  control  of  that  body,  formed  a  confrater- 
nity and  expelled  from  the  city  a  number  of  the  leaders  of  the  rival 
party,  among  them  Michael  de  Mans  and  his  sons.  In  dealing  with 
this  situation  Trubleville  sought  the  royal  sanction  and  support. 
Declaring  that  if  such  an  organization  as  the  confraternity  were 
permitted  the  royal  authority  would  be  at  an  end,  he  applied  to  the 
bishop  of  Chichester  to  persuade  the  king  not  only  to  forbid  the 
confraternity  but  to  request  the  church  authorities  to  excommunicate 
its  members.^  Whether  or  not  the  church  took  action  the  king,  at 
any  rate,  replied  to  Trubleville's  letter  by  letters  patent  dissolving  the 
confraternity  and  commanding  the  mayor,  jurats  and  commune  of 
Bayonne  to  reinstate  the  banished  citizens.'^ 

Not  only  was  Trubleville  drawn  into  factional  disputes  at  Bay- 
onne but  he  was  likewise  involved  in  similar  strife  at  Bordeaux. 
There  as  at  Bayonne  two  parties  contended  for  the  mastery.  One  of 
these  was  led  by  the  powerful  Soler  family  and  bore  their  name,  the 
other  by  the  not  less  powerful  and  wealthy  Coloms  and  hence  styled 
the  Colombines.  At  Trubleville's  arrival  the  Colombines  were  in 
power,  with  Amaneus  Colom  as  mayor.  In  1228  he  was 
succeeded  by  Alexander  de  Cambis,  a  member  of  the  Soler  faction. 
The  seneschal  seems  to  have  allied  himself  with  the  Solers,  perhaps 
he  had  a  hand  in  their  elevation  to  power.  At  any  rate,  he  was  soon 
involved  in  a  struggle  with  their  rivals.  Amaneus  Colom  owed 
money  to  Savary  de  Mauleon.  The  king,  possibly  at  the  suggestion 
of  Trubleville,  seized  such  of  the  wine  of  Amaneus  as  he  could  find 
in   London   and    Southampton.^     Terms   were  finally   arranged   by 

*  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  327. 

''Patent  Rolls,  1225-1232,  192;  also  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  330. 

^  Close  Rolls,  1227-1231,  136. 


6o  BNGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

William  Raymond  Colom  for  the  discharge  of  the  debt.^  The  dispute 
began  in  May,  and  apparently  with  an  attempt  of  Trubleville's  to 
collect  the  debt  in  Gascony,^"  This  can  hardly  have  increased  the 
friendship  of  the  Colombines  for  the  seneschal.  At  any  rate,  the 
close  of  the  year  saw  an  outbreak  of  actual  violence  in  Bordeaux. 
Unfortunately  we  know  little  of  the  trouble  beyond  the  fact  of  its 
occurrence  and  who  were  the  victors.  Probably  the  Colombines 
revolted  against  the  seneschal,  allied  as  he  was  with  the  Solers. 
Order  was,  however,  restored  and  in  a  letter  patent  dated  February 
13,  1229,  the  king  formally  expresses  his  gratitude  to  those  who 
supported  the  seneschal  in  the  late  disturbance  in  the  city  and  assisted 
him  to  restore  order.^^  He  names  in  this  connection  Arnulf  d'e  La 
Lande,  Arnulf  Lamberti,  Peter  Lamberti,  Raymond  Brun,  Rustengo 
de  Soler,  Bernard  d'  Acra,  William  Rustani,  Ruffatus  Beger,  Ama- 
neus  Daylans,  Raymond  Cristian,  Raymond  de  Muneer,  Raymond  de 
Cambus.^^  These  men  and  their  friends,  whether  knights  or  citizens, 
the  king  thanks,  extends  to  them  his  protection,  and  promises  that 
he  will  impose  no  fines  on  the  participants  in  the  late  disturbances 
except  with  their  advice.  Herein  the  dominant  party  would  seem 
to  be  shielding  their  rivals.  Possibly  the  enmity  was  not  yet  deep  or 
bitter  between  the  two,  perhaps  the  Soler  faction  feared  that  too 
great  severity  would  produce  a  reaction  in  favor  of  a  party  that  was, 
doubtless,  still  powerful.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  Soler  party  with 
Trubleville's  help  became  dominant  in  the  commune.  The  mayor 
for  1229  is  William  Rustengo  and  for  1230  Raymond  Monader,  one 
of  the  citizens  thanked  by  the  king.  The  next  year  we  find  Amfrac 
Lambert  in  office,  very  possibly  a  relative  of  the  Lamberts  mentioned 

^  Ibid.,  142. 

'"Ibid.,  52. 

''Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  240;  also  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  344. 

"I  have  reproduced  the  spelling  of  the  family  names  as  it  is  in  tihe  royal 
letter.  As  will  be  seen,  it  differs  in  some  cases  from  that  which  I  have 
adopted. 


GASCON Y  FROM  1227  TO  1230  61 

in  the  king's  letter,  or  even,  perhaps,  the  same  as  the  Arnulf  Lambert 
therein  mentioned. 

Thus  the  two  chief  towns  of  Gascony  were  torn  by  party  strife 
in  which  the  seneschal  was  forced  to  intervene.  These  party  divisions 
were  not  temporary  accidents  but  were  destined  to  endure  for  many 
years.  What,  then,  was  their  real  nature?  Such  a  question  is  com- 
plex and  difficult  to  answer  with  certainty.  Various  conjectures 
have  been  advanced.  Balasque,  whose  opinion  in  all  matters  con- 
cerning Bayonne  is  entitled  to  great  weight,  thinks  that  in  both 
Bayonne  and  Bordeaux  the  strife  was  between  an  aristrocratic  anti- 
English  party  and  a  democratic  pro-English  party.  Giry  follows  his 
opinion  regarding  the  Bayonnense  factions,^^  and  Bemont  takes  the 
same  view  as  to  Bayonne  but  thinks  that  at  Bordeaux  the  struggles 
were  between  groups  of  equally  wealthy  and  aristrocratic  burghers.^* 

These  conclusions  seem  somewhat  dubious,  at  least,  in  their  ap- 
plication to  the  period  here  under  discussion.  One  of  the  parties 
does  appear  as  more  antagonistic  to  the  feudal  nobility  than  the 
other  but  they  have  equally  rich  and  prominent  leaders,  drawn  in 
both  cases  from  the  municipal  aristocracy.  So  far  as  leadership  goes, 
neither  can  be  called  democratic  nor  can  one  be  said  to  be  more 
popular  than  the  other.  Balasque,  even  while  calling  the  parties  in 
Bayonne  democratic  and  aristocratic  expressly  points  out  that  the 
leaders  of  both  belong  to  the  "haute  bourgeoisie"  and  are  descended 

"  "La  consequence  la  plus  claire  de  I'introduction  a  Bayonne  des  £tab- 
lissements  fut  de  contribuer  a  y  etablir  une  aristocratie  bourgeoise  et  mar- 
chande,d'y  developper  I'antagonisme  des  classes  et  d'y  favoriser  les  dissensions. 
Le  parti  aristocratique  fut  constitue  par  les  proprietaires,  les  commerqants 
et  surtout  les  marchands  de  vins;  le  parti  populaire  se  composa  des  gens  de 
mar,  des  calfats,  des  cbarpentiers,  des  cordiers,  des  tanneurs  et  de  tous  les 
membres  des  diverses  corporations  d'artisans.  Ce  fut  la  le  parti  royalistc 
anglais.  Volontiers,  les  gros  bourgeois  firent  cause  commune  avec  les  barons 
de  Gascogne  et  prirent  parti  pour  eux  dans  les  guerres  suscitees  par  leur 
mecontentement."    Giry,  iitab.  de  Rouen,  I,  109. 

"  See  his  introduction  to  the  Roles  Gascons. 


62  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

from  the  most  ancient  and  powerful  families  in  the  city.^^  We  have 
already  had  ample  evidence  that  in  Bordeaux  the  Coloms  were  fully 
as  rich  and  prominent  as  the  Solers.^*^  Nor  can  there  be  found  any 
indication  that  either  party  had  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  popular 
prog-ram.  Hence,  although  it  may  be  true  that  the  one  had  in  some 
cases  a  larger  popular  following  than  the  other  yet  we  can  scarcely 
call  them  aristrocratic  and  democratic,  in  the  modern  sense  of  these 
terms. 

The  question,  then,  would  seem  to  be  not  why  one  faction  had  a 
more  popular  following  than  the  other  but  rather  why  the  communal 
aristocracy  should  be  so  divided.  Certain  facts  would  suggest  that 
the  division  corresponded  to  some  extent  to  diverging  lines  of  com- 
mercial interest.  At  Bayonne,  for  example,  there  existed  a  very  con- 
siderable Spanish  trade  as  well  as  that  which  went  north  toward 
Bordeaux  and  England.  Of  the  leaders  of  the  two  factions  at 
Bayonne  Dardir  headed  that  which  Balasque  considers  the  pro-Eng- 
lish party,  and  Michael  de  Mans  the  anti-English  party.  It  is 
surely  suggestive  to  find  that  Michael  had  extensive  interests  in 
Spain  and  ended  his  days  at  San  Sebastian.^^  In  Bordeaux,  also, 
we  shall  see  that  while  scarcely  any  of  the  persons  figuring  in  the 
Soler  party  can  be  identified  with  the  English  trade,  scarcely  any  of 
the  prominent  Colombines  cannot  be  so  identified.^^  Rustengo^  de 
Soler  was,  as  we  have  seen,  engaged  in  this  commerce  in  the  reign 
of  John,  but  after  that  time  no  further  reference  is  miade  to  him  in 
that  connection.  Moreover,  the  first  act  of  the  Soler  party  when 
installed  in  power  at  Bordeaux  after  the  riot,  is  suggestive  of  another 
line  of  interests.  Trubleville,  like  his  predecessors,  found  his  reve- 
nues insufficient.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  suggested'  to  the  king 

"  Etudes,  II,  97. 

"  See  their  loans  to  Richard  of  Cornwall  noticed  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

"  Balasque,  Etudes,  II,  166-7. 

'*  For  a  discussion  of  this  point  see  chapter  viii. 


GASCONY  FROM  1227  TO  1230  63 

the  advisibility  of  increasing  the  resources  of  the  treasury  by  doub- 
ling the  duty  on  wine  collected  at  Sandwich.^^  This  had  formerly 
been  two  denarii  to  the  dolitim  and  would  thus  become  four.  Such 
a  suggestion  was  not  remarkable  from  the  seneschal,  but  it  is  surely 
significant  to  find  his  proposal  endorsed  by  two  members  of  the 
Soler  party,  Bernard  d'  Acra  and  Boniface  Viger.  Certainly  men 
deeply  interested  in  the  wine  trade  would  be  little  likely  to  look  with 
favor  upon  such  a  proposition. 

These  facts  would  seem  to  point  to  a  difference  in  economic 
interest  behind  the  party  divisions  in  the  Gascon  towns.  In  such 
case  we  should  have,  on  the  one  hand,  a  group  of  wealthy  merchants 
chiefly  concerned  in  the  English  wine  trade,  with  such  supporters 
as  they  could  rally  to  their  side,  and,  on  the  other,  those  wealthy 
burghers  who  were  less  interested  in  the  trade  with  England  than 
in  other  lines  of  business.  Such  an  initial  difference  would  lead  to 
many  others.  A  merchant  in  Bayonne  whose  business  lay  with 
Spain  would  naturally  take  a  different  attitude  toward  many  matters 
of  policy  from  that  of  his  neighbor  who  looked  to  England  for  his 
market. 

Another  fact  in  favor  of  such  an  interpretation  of  the  party 
divisions  is  found  in  the  close  affiliation  of  the  corresponding  factions 
in  different  towns.  Thus,  in  1254,  Peter  Calhau,  one  of  the  popular 
leaders  at  Bordeaux,  stands  as  a  pledge  for  Peter  Rosset,  one  of  the 
popular  leaders  at  Bayonne,^"  and  we  shall  see  evidence  of  the  close 
affiliation  of  the  so-called  popular  factions  in  Bordeaux  and  the 
neighboring  towns  of  La  Reole  and  Bazas. ^^  The  opposition  parties 
were  likewise  connected,  but  not  perhaps  quite  so  closely.  Such 
relations  are  not  easy  to  explain  on  the  simple  theory  of  aristocratic 
and  democratic  factions,  but  once  a  commercial  element  enters  in,  it 

"Close  Rolls,  1227-1231,  153. 
^Pat.  Rolls,  1 247- 1 258,  319. 
*^  See  chapter  viii. 


64  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

becomes  quite  simple  and  indeed  inevitable.  If  one  party  in  Bayonne 
was  interested  in  the  trade  between  Bordeaux  and  England  it  would 
necessarily  be  closely  associated  with  the  merchants  there  who 
shipped  their  wine  to  England  in  Bayonnese  vessels.  We  may, 
therefore,  feel  warranted  in  concluding  that  commercial  interests 
played  a  large  part  in  the  factional  strife  of  the  Gascon  towns. 

Yet  this  is  far  from  being  the  whole  story.  The  suggestion  of 
Balasque  that,  at  Bayonne,  one  party  allied  itself  with  the  Gascon 
nobility  is  deserving  of  some  consideration.  Throughout  Gascony 
there  would  seem  to  have  been  two  general  parties,  the  barons  who 
profited  by  various  abuses,  and  others  who  were  injured  by  them.^^ 
Now  it  is  surely  not  without  significance  that  the  Solers  seem  to 
have  been  closely  associated  with  the  baronial  party  and  that  Michael 
de  Mans  was  related  to  the  family  of  the  viscounts  of  Labourd.^^ 
Thus  the  general  statement  of  Balasque  would  seem  to  meet  with 
confirmation.  If  that  be  the  case  then  we  should  have  in  both  Bor- 
deaux and  Bayonne  two  parties ;  one  closely  indentified  with  English 
commerce  and  standing  in  general  hostility  to  the  barons;  the  other 
not  so  closely  indentified  with  this  branch  of  commerce  and  tending 
to  ally  itself  with  the  feudal  nobility.  The  attitude  of  the  seneschal 
goes  far  to  verify  such  a  conclusion.  When,  later  on,  the  Gascon 
barons  presented  their  complaints  against  Simon  de  Montfort  they 
distinctly  describe  Trubleville  as  having  been  an  ideal  seneschal,  in 
contrast  with  Simon,  whom  they  pictured  as  the  very  reverse.^* 
Now  it  is  significant  to  find  that  Trubleville,  who  evidently  favored 

^^  Balasque,  Etudes,  II,  92. 

^  Ibid.,  96. 

"Matthew  Paris  makes  the  barons  say  "Henricus  de  Trublevilla,  qui 
auctoritate  vestra  senescallus  fuerat  Wasconiae  et  custos  noster  pius  et  Justus 
nobis  pacifice  praeerat  similiter  et  dominus  Waleranus  Theuto,  vir  quidem 
discretus  et  circumspectus"  .  .  .  Chronica  Majora,  V,  295.  Some  allow- 
ance should  be  made  for  the  rhetorical  exaggeration  but  on  the  whole  it  is 
evident  that  Trubleville  stood  well  with  the  barons. 


GASCONY  FROM  1227  TO  1230  65 

the  nobility,  allied  himself  with  the  "aristocratic"  and  "anti-English" 
party  both  in  Bayonne  and  Bordeaux,  and  that  Simon,  who  opposed 
the  nobles,  was  closely  leagued  with  the  "popular"  party.  We  may 
conclude,  then,  with  some  degree  of  confidence  that  of  the  two  fac- 
tions in  the  towns  one  tended  to  alliance  with  the  neighboring  seig- 
neurs. Such  a  policy  might  have  been  dictated  by  economic  motives 
as  distinctly  as  the  royalist  proclivity  of  their  opponents.  Men 
whose  commerce  lay  mainly  in  the  directions  of  Beam  and  Navarre 
or  those  whose  landed  possessions  were  at  the  mercy  of  these 
nobles  or  their  allies  might  naturally  seek  alliance  with  the  lords.. 
One  may  perhaps  have  included  the  majority  of  the  lower  classes 
in  some  towns,  so  that  we  may  easily  accept  all  the  statements  of 
Giry  and  Balasque  regarding  a  popular  and  aristocratic  party  at 
Bayonne  and  yet  conclude  that  this  was  hardly  the  real  basis  of  the 
division. 

With  the  suppression  of  disorder  in  Bordeaux  and  Bayonne 
Gascony  seems  to  have  enjoyed  a  few  years  of  relative  quiet  from 
internal  dissensions.  The  main  interest  now  lay  in  the  renewal  of 
the  war  with  France,  provoked  this  time  by  King  Henry  himself.  In 
1227  he  had  been  declared  of  age  a  second  time  and  this  action  seems 
to  have  been  intended  by  Hubert  as  a  means  of  getting  rid  of  Peter 
des  Roches,  his  rival  in  the  government.-^  This  declaration  seems 
to  have  had  more  reality  than  the  first,  for  from  this  time  on  Henry 
began  to  take  part  in  state  affairs.  He  had  never  accepted  his  re- 
verses in  Poitou  as  final  and  affairs  seemed  now  to  open  up  possibil- 
ities of  recovering  the  lost  ground.  The  truce  was  about  to  expire 
and  allies  were  offering  themselves.  The  French  nobles  chafed 
under  Queen  Blanche  and  were  not  averse  to  an  alliance  with 
England.  In  1228  Norman  envoys  sought  Henry's  aid  for  a  rebel- 
lion which  had  broken  out  there.     Hubert,  always  out  of  sympathy 

^  Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angevins,  411. 


66  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

with  continental  adventvires,  dissuaded  the  king  from  active  interven- 
tion, but  the  next  year  Henry  was  resolute.-*^  He  put  forward  im- 
possible demands  on  France"^  and  sought  allies  for  a  renewal  of  the 
war.  The  most  promising  ally  whom  he  was  able  to  obtain  was  Petef 
Mauclerc,  count  of  Brittany.  With  high  hopes  he  made  his  prepa- 
rations for  the  expedition  when  an  luiforseen  event  prevented  his 
departure.  When  his  troops  were  assembled  at  Portsmouth  it  was 
found  that  sufficient  shipping  had  not  been  provided.  Though 
Henry,  wild  with  passion,  called  Hubert  a  hoary  traitor  and  threaten- 
ed him  with  drawn  sword,^^  nevertheless  the  facts  could  not  be 
altered  and  the  expedition  had  to  be  postponed. 

In  the  spring  of  1230  the  expedition  did  at  last  set  out,  though 
not  it  would  seem  in  great  force.  The  muster  roll  shows  but  275 
barons,  knights  and  men-at-arms.  The  foot-soldiers  we  cannot 
reckon,  but  as  Henry  took  with  him  7,800  marks  of  silver  we  may 
surmise  that  he  intended  to  enlist  men  on  the  continent.-^  Accord- 
ing to  the  plan,  the  king  landed  in  Brittany,  to  join  and  support  his 
ally. 

In  his  campaign  he  was  aided  by  the  insubordination  in  the  ranks 
of  the  French.  The  feudal  army  of  Queen  Blanche  refused  to 
serve  beyond  the  required  forty  days  and  broke  up  as  soon  as  this 
time  elapsed.  Philip  of  Boulogne  and  his  followers,  quitting  the  royal 
forces,  ravaged  Champagne,  and  Blanche  with  what  troops  remained 
turned  to  his  pursuit,  thus  leaving  the  English  to  carry  on  theii 
operations  unchecked.^"  To  Henry  two  courses  were  open,  to  march 
north  to  the  help  of  the  Norman  rebels  or  south  against  Poitou. 
Hubert's  advice  decided  him  to  adopt  the  latter  plan  and  he  moved 

*'  Ibid.,  412. 

''  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  35o. 
'^  Davis,  England,  412-13. 

^°  Ramsay,  Damn  of  the  Constitution,  55.  Ramsay  estimates  the  value  of 
this  sum  at  £5,200. 

'"  Davis,  England,  413. 


GASCONY  FROM  1227  TO  1230  67 

south  into  Aquitaine.  Possibly  Hubert's  arguments  derived  part 
of  their  force  from  a  letter  of  Sir  Geoffrey  Beauchamp  to  the  king, 
telling  him  that  his  presence  alone  could  save  the  south  from  passing 
to  the  French  through  anarchy  and  treason. ^^  We  can  hardly  avoid 
a  suspicion  that  this  account  is,  at  the  least,  much  exaggerated,  since 
we  find  little  or  no  confirmation  of  it  elsewhere  and  since  Henry  in 
his  southern  expedition  did  little  but  borrow  money.  Indeed,  the 
diversion  into  Gascony  seems  to  have  been  a  decided  blunder.  All 
Henry  did  was  to  besiege  Alirabeau  and  then  push  on  to  Bordeaux. 
Stopping  there  only  a  very  short  time,  he  set  off  again  for  the  north. 
To  Henry  it  seemed  that  the  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his 
success  was  the  lack  of  money.  In  July  he  had  written  to  his  chan- 
cellor from  Pons,  urging  him  to  be  diligent  in  forwarding  money,  as 
with  it  the  campaign  could  be  carried  tlirough  successfully.^^  Failing 
to  receive  sufficient  supphes  from  England,  Henry  turned  for  support 
to  the  burghers.  Possibly  his  southern  digression  had  this  for  one 
of  its  purposes,  at  any  rate  it  seems  to  have  been  so  used  ;  but  the  king 
had  already  begun  to  appeal  to  the  citizens  from  the  moment  of  his 
landing.  While  still  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Mirabeau  he  called 
upon  the  mayor,  jurats  and  commune  of  Bordeaux  for  military  en- 
gines and  bolts  for  crossbows  to  carry  on  the  operations,^^  and 
summoned  the  militia  of  La  Reole  to  his  aid.  But  it  was  in  money 
that  the  citizens  gave  the  king  their  most  valuable  support.  Henry 
had  landed  on  May  23.  On  June  6  he  acknowledged  a  number  of 
loans.  From  John  le  Mercer  he  borrowed  133  pounds  5  shillings, 
from  Raymond  Makayn  and  his  associate  merchants  542  pounds  6 
pence,  and  from  William  Raymond  Colom  and  Colombo  de  Areis 
1,333  niarks  6  shillings.  In  addition  he  promised  to  repay  to  Bernard 
Raymond  de  St.  George,  citizen  of  Dax,  100  marks,  to  Peter  Bayz  of 

"  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  367. 

''^  Letters  de  rois,  I,  36. 

^^  Close  Rolls,  1227-1231,  422. 


68  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

Bayonne  90  pounds,  to  two^  citizens  of  La  Reole  125  pounds,  and 
finally  to  two  citizens  of  Bazas,  81  pounds  5  shillings.'^'*  Apparently 
the  king  used  his  brief  stay  at  Bordeaux  for  the  same  purpose,  for, 
on  August  12,  he  acknowledged  a  new  set  of  debts.  The  Mayor, 
Raymond  Monader — one  of  those  thanked  in  connection  with  the 
riots  the  year  before, — advanced  him  100  marks,^^  and  in  connection 
with  other  citizens  200.  Amaneus  Colom  also  lent  the  impecunious 
monarch  200  marks. 

Thus  reinforced  Henry  marched  north  through  Poitou,  but  with- 
out gaining  any  substantial  advantages.  The  gifts  and  grants  of 
Queen  Blanche,  with  whom  they  had  recently  concluded  treaties,^® 
held  the  count  of  La  Marche  and  the  viscount  of  Thouars  loyal  to 
the  French,  and  without  them  the  lesser  lords  counted  for  little. 
Thus  if  Henry  met  with  no  resistance  from  the  Poitevins  he  equally 
gained  no  success,  and  returned  to  Brittany  without  accomplishing 
anything  of  importance.  In  Brittany  a  round  of  feasts  and  pageants 
consumed  what  was  left  of  the  king's  funds,  and  in  September,  being 
unable  to  get  more  money  from  England,  he  returned  thither  for 
reasons  of  health.^^ 

In  this  abortive  campaign  the  role  of  the  townspeople  is  evident 
enough.  They  gave  the  king  support  both  by  their  militia  and  by 
their  loans.  If,  however,  the  king  received  their  help  he  naturally 
was  expected  to  make  some  return.  It  is  not  surprising  then  to 
find  the  king  confirming  the  commune  of  St.  fimilion,^^  and  offering 
no  objection  when  Bordeaux  renews  her  treaty  with  La  Reole.^®  He 
furthermore  took  care  that  his  decree  stopping  all  commerce  with 

"AH  these  debts  are  acknowledged  in  the  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  378-379. 
'"Ibid.,  391. 

'°  S'hirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  370. 
^^  Davis,  England,  414. 
'*  Charter  Rolls,  I,  124. 

^^  0"Reilley,  Histoire  complete  de  Bordeaux,  I,  363.  He  claims  to  base 
has  account  on  the  manuscript  of  the  treaty  in  the  archives  of  La  Reole. 


GASCOXY  FROM  1227  TO  1230  69 

the  French  did  not  injure  the  citizens  of  Gascony.  In  a  number  of 
cases  where  Bayonnese  ships  were  detained  in  England  by  the  king's 
agents,  he  at  once  released  them.*°  These  orders  of  release,  also, 
furnish  incidental  testimony  to  the  extent  of  the  Bayonnese  carr^nng 
trade.  One  of  these  ships  is  loaded  with  goods  from  Bordeaux,  La 
Reole  and  other  Gascon  towns.  It  had  been  stopped  only  because  of 
a  suspicion  that  its  cargo  came  from  La  Rochelle.*^  Three  ships 
are  loaded  with  Flemish  merchandise.*^ 

'"  Close  Rolls,  1227-1231,  204,  291,  307,  353,  362,  373,  413. 

*^Ibid.,  204. 

^  Ibid.,  307  and  413. 


CHAPTER  V 

PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS 

Condition  of  the  province.  Vivona  as  seneschal.  Difficulties  of  his  position. 
Colombines  in  power  at  Bordeaux.  Trubleville  restored  as  seneschal. 
Collision  with  the  Colombines  at  Bordeaux.  Soler  party  restored  to 
power  there.  Increased  tranquillity.  Dependence  of  the  government  on 
the  townspeople  in  time  of  peace. 

Henry's  unsuccessful  campaigri  on  the  continent  had  not  resulted 
in  any  serious  change  in  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Gascony.  The 
old  animosities  remained  and  the  old  discord  was  ready  to  break 
out  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  seneschal  was  faced  by  the  same 
difficulties  and  perplexities  as  before.  When  Henry  departed  for 
England  he  left  this  important  office  in  the  experienced  hands  of 
Trubleville  ;  but  soon  considered  it  expedient  to  make  a  change,  for  on 
July  I  Trubleville  was  dismissed  and  a  successor  appointed.^  This 
successor,  named  Richard  de  Burgh,  does  not  however  appear  to 
have  actually  held  ofifice,  for  on  September  30  Hugh  de  Vivona  is 
nominated  as  seneschal.^ 

It  is  possible  that  the  change  in  the  administration  in  Gascony 
was  in  some  part  due  to  the  influence  of  the  popular  party.  At  any 
rate,  an  order  of  the  king  issued  earlier  in  the  month  giving  Gaillard 
Colom  authority  to  make  some  purchases  at  Montpellier  for  the  royal 

^  When  no  other  source  is  specified,  the  information  concerning  the 
seneschal  is  taken  from  the  list  in  the  Appendix  to  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II, 
399-400. 

"Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  502. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS  71 

use^  would  suggest  that  the  chiefs  of  that  faction  had  to  some  extent 
gained  the  royal  ear.  This  impression  is  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  the  new  administration  seems  clearly  to  have  represented  more 
or  less  of  a  reaction  from  that  of  Trubleville.  Thus  we  find  Henry, 
on  October  16,  instructing  Hugh  to  revoke  all  lands  or  other  prop- 
erty of  the  crown  alienated  by  Trubleville  as  seneschal.*  Also,  on 
December  19,  he  ordered  the  mayor,  council  and  jurats  of  Bordeaux 
to  revoke  all  such  pledges  of  revenues  and  sales  as  had  been  made  by 
Trubleville  without  the  royal  sanction,  and  to  give  possession  in 
such  cases  to  Vivona.^  The  doubts  of  Trubleville's  integrity  which 
this  implies  may  well  have  been  suggested  by  the  Coloms  and  their 
alhes. 

As  to  the  inquiry  into  Trubleville's  grants  of  lands  and  revenues, 
no  definite  results  appear  in  the  rolls.  Since,  however,  the  king 
discharged  some  of  his  debts  and  afterward  sent  him  back  again  as 
seneschal,  it  would  seem  likely  that  no  very  serious  abuses  were 
discovered.  Some,  however,  of  the  new  seneschal's  difficulties  may 
have  bad  their  origin  in  the  attempt  on  his  part  to  revoke  grants  of 
his  predecessor,  but  the  documents  give  no  indications  that  this  was 
the  case. 

That  Hugh  de  \'ivona  to  some  extent  modified  the  policy  of 
Trubleville  is  farther  suggested  by  the  nature  of  the  troubles  in  which 
he  soon  involved  himself.  These  are  first  traceable  in  the  rolls 
of  1233,  but  undoubtedly  begin  earlier,  for  the  royal  intervention 
would  hardly  be  expected  till  the  matter  had  already  been  for  some- 
time pending.  In  other  words,  Vivona  would  not  be  likely  to  invoke 
the  king's  authority  till  he  had  found  his  own  inadequate  to  the  case 
in  hand. 

Among  the  troubles  of  the  seneschal  we  may  especially  note  his 

^  Lettres  de  rois,  I,  39.     See  also  Brequigny,  LXIII,  117. 
*  Pat.  Rolls,  122^-122,2,  507. 
'^  Ibid.,  1232-1247,  6. 


72 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


quarrels  with  the  former  officers  of  Trubleville.  Thus,  we  find  him 
in  difficulties  with  a  certain  Richard  de  Poncellis,  who  had  been  a 
bailiff  under  his  predecessor  and  whom  Vivona  had  apparently- 
deprived  of  this  office.  Poncellis,  however,  refused  to  surrender  a 
quantity  of  armour,  goods  and  furniture,  and  received  the  protection 
of  the  canons  of  the  cathedral  chapter.  Prospering  so  far  in  his 
defiance,  he  went  the  length  of  tearing  down  one  of  the  towers  of 
the  castle  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  another  tower  in  the  vicin- 
ity which  he  held.  The  royal  intervention  became  necessary,  and 
on  January  2y  the  king  wrote  to  the  archbishop  commanding  him  to 
surrender  the  rebel,  and  similar  orders  were  sent  to  the  mayor  and 
commune,*' 

A  like  difficulty  was  experienced  with  a  certain  Randolf  de 
Talemunt,  to  whom  Trubleville  had  given — probably  for  safe  keep- 
ing— a.  quantity  of  targes,  cross-bows,  lances  and  bows  out  of  the 
castle  of  Oleron.  It  required  a  special  order  from  the  king  to 
induce  him  to  deliver  them  up  to  the  seneschal.'' 

Not  only  did  he  have  such  difficulties  with  particular  officers,  but 
Vivona  found  himself  unable  to  obtain  possession  of  all  the  royal 
castles,  for  we  find  Henry  addressing  mandates  to  the  bishop  of 
Bazas  and  Rustengo  de  Soler,  asking  them  to  help  the  seneschal  in 
his  efforts  to  obtain  possession  of  the  castle  of  Rocheford.^  This 
appeal  to  the  leader  of  the  Soler  faction  for  his  good  offices  would 
seem  especially  significant.  Nor  was  a  single  mandate  sufficient 
to  secure  possession  of  the  castle  for  the  seneschal,  for  the  king 
addressed  another  letter  to  the  constable  ordering  him  to  surrender 
his  castle  to  Vivona  and  accompanied  this  by  a  letter  to  Rustengo 
urging  him  to  assist  the  seneschal." 

"Pat.  Rolls,  Ibid.,  g. 
'  Ibid. 
"Ibid. 
'Ibid.,  22. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS 


73 


In  addition  to  such  difficulties,  Vivona — like  all  seneschals — had 
financial  troubles  to  meet.  The  communes  of  Bordeaux,  Bayonne 
and  Dax  had  been  commanded  by  the  king  to  collect  the  farms  of 
their  towns  at  the  time  of  Trubleville's  removal.^"  This  they  would 
seem  to  have  been  willing  enough  to  do,  but  when  it  came  to  paying 
over  the  money  to  Vivona  it  was  a  different  matter.  Hence,  on 
January  ii,  the  king  intervened  and  ordered  the  mayor,  jurats  and 
commune  of  Bordeaux  to  turn  over  the  rents,  dues,  etc.,  of  their  city 
to  the  seneschal,  and  to  permit  his  bailififs  to  collect  them  in  the 
future.^^  On  January  2y  similar  orders  were  dispatched  to  Bayonne 
and  Dax.^- 

Nor  did  this  end  the  financial  difficulties  of  the  seneschal.  Truble- 
ville  had  left  behind  him  debts  w^hich  were  still  unpaid,  and  Vivona 
w^as  in  need  of  loans  for  himself.  Thus  the  king  pays  Raymond 
Monader  the  loo  marks  which  he  had  lent  to  Trubleville,^^  and  in 
August  he  applied  for  a  loan  on  Vivona's  behalf;  and  it  is  of  interest 
to  note  that  the  application  is  made  to  Colombines,  the  king  asking 
Gaillard  Colom,  Peter  Colom  and  Arnold  William  Emeric  to  advance 
200  marks  to  the  seneschal.^* 

The  general  turbulence  of  the  province  is,  also,  one  of  the  pressing 
problems  of  the  royal  representative.  The  nobles  were  not  perform- 
ing their  duties  in  the  way  of  adequate  policing  of  the  roads  and 
the  communes  were  in  need  of  restraint  in  their  encroachments  on 
the  royal  prerogative.  Thus  Henry  issued  letters  patent  to  the 
barons  and  knights  of  Gascony  who  had  sworn  the  peace — doubtless 
when  the  king  left  the  province  for  England — to  guard 
the  roads  so  that  the  merchants  might  travel  safely  and  unmolested.^^ 

'"  Ibid.,  23. 

"  Ibid.,  7,  23. 

"  Ibid.,  9. 

"  Ibid. 

"  Ibid.,  22.    The  money  was  advanced  by  Gaillard  Colom ;  ibid.,  89. 

^^Ibid.,  7. 


74 


ENGLISH  RULB  IN  GASCON Y 


He  furthermore  expressly  forbade  Bayonne  to  form  confederations 
and  commanded  the  citizens  to  allow  the  seneschal  to  settle  any 
difficulties  with  the  men  of  Bordeaux.^"  This  latter  city  was  also 
giving  cause  for  alarm  by  allowing  the  men  of  Entre-deux-Mers  to 
join  their  commune  and  to  escape  the  obligations  which  they  owed 
the  king,  and  Henry  found  it  necessary  to  write  to  the  mayor  and 
commune  forbidding  them  to  receive  such  applicants  for  member- 
ship.^'^ 

If,  as  we  have  surmised,  Vivona  attempted  to  modify  his  prede- 
cessor's policy,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  have  found  himself 
in  difficulties  with  the  Solers,  who  had  been  favored  by  Trubleville, 
and  who  had  been  dominant  in  the  commune  of  Bordeaux.  The 
attempt  to  secure  loans  from  Colombine  leaders  would  seem  to  point 
towards  a  policy  favorable  to  their  party  and  likely  to  involve 
the  seneschal  in  the  party  struggles  in  the  city.  From  1229  to  1233 
the  mayors  had  been  taken  from  the  Soler  party.  In  1233,  however, 
the  mayor  was  a  certain  Gaucem  Colom.  It  is  not  certain  that  he 
was  related  to  the  great  family  of  that  name,  though  this  would 
seem  by  no  means  unlikely.  He  succeeded  Vigoros  Viger,  an  un- 
doubted member  of  the  Soler  party,  and  his  election  seems  to  have 
been  accompanied  by  some  degree  of  royal  intervention,  for  on 
January  13 — before  the  election, — Henry  addressed  a  mandate  to 
the  mayor  and  jurats.^®  He  pointed  out  that  the  election  of  a  mayor 
had  often  been  a  cause  of  disturbance,  and  he  directed  that  they 
should,  with  the  council  of  the  city,  elect  one  whose  choice  would 
cause  no  dissensions.  Either  this  was  an  attempt  to  mediate 
between  the  factions,  or  was  an  attempt  to  put  pressure 
on  the  jurats  in  the  interest  of  the  Colombines.  More  probably 
it  was  intended  to  serve  the  interests  of  a  compromise,  for  there 

^'Ibid.,  10. 
"  Ibid.,  23. 
''Ibid.,  8. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS 


75 


seems  no  reason  to  conclude  that  Vivona  identified  himself  with  the 
Colombines.  The  result  in  any  case  was  the  choice  of  Gaucem 
Colom,  who  may  have  been  a  moderate  member  of  their  party  who 
was  not  especially  distasteful  to  the  Solers.  This  seems  the  more 
likely  as  he  was  succeeded  by  Raymond  Monader,  a  man  of  doubtful 
party  connections.  As,  however,  he  was  in  turn  succeeded  by  Peter 
Calhau,  one  of  the  Colombine  leaders,  the  net  result  was  favorable 
to  the  Colombines. 

The  year  1234  opened  with  Vivona  again  in  need  of  money,  for 
Henry  on  January  20  requested  the  mayor  and  commune  to  advance 
the  sum  of  300  marks,  which  he  promised  to  repay  their  messenger 
in  England. ^^  This  attempt  at  raising  a  new  loan  was  practically 
the  last  act  of  Vivona's  administration.  Either  he  was  weary  of 
his  office — as  earlier  seneschals  had  been — or  the  king  was  dissatis- 
fied with  the  results  of  his  administration.  In  any  case  he  is  out  of 
office  in  May  1234,  although  he  does  not  seem  to  have  left  the  pro- 
vince, where  we  shall  find  him  a  little  later,  holding  important 
positions. 

Whatever  the  investigation  into  Trubleville's  policy  had  revealed, 
he  seems  to  have  been  the  most  successful  of  any  of  Henry's  senes- 
chals and  to  him  the  king  now  reverted.  He  was  appointed  Vivona's 
successor  and  Rustengo  de  Soler  was  commissioned  to  act  for  him 
till  he  should  arrive  in  Gascony.-°  This  choice  of  a  deputy  was  a 
distinct  foreshadowing  of  the  new  seneschal's  future  policy  and  may 
well  have  been  made  at  his  suggestion. 

For  Trubleville  to  arrive  in  Gascony  was  not  quite  so  simple  a 
matter  as  it  may  seem  at  first  sight.  In  that  province  he  had  numer- 
ous creditors  whose  claims  were  still  unpaid  and  a  settlement  with 
these  was  first  necessary.  His  debts  amounted,  indeed,  to  the  then 
considerable  total  of  6,000  marks,  and  the  English  treasury  could  ill 

^Ubid.,  38. 
="  Ibid.,  47. 


^6  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

spare  so  large  a  sum.  Henry,  therefore,  on  May  25,  assigned  one 
half  the  rents,  farms,  etc.,  of  Bordeaux  for  five  years  to  discharge 
these  loans  to  his  representative,  and  enumerates  the  various  creditors 
as  follows :  Ernulf ,  bishop  of  Bazas,  Rustengo  de  Soler,  Raymond  le 
Brun,  Elias  Viger,  Bernard  d'  Acra,  Rostand  Eborard,  Raymond 
William,  Bernard  Macheler,  Raymond  Buchs,  Arnold  de  Peregort, 
William  Gauler  and  Peter  Bonafus.-^ 

Of  these  creditors  only  one,  Raymond  le  Brun,  is  demonstrably 
a  Colombine,  while  several  are  among  the  prominent  leaders  of  the 
Solers.  But  the  omissions  of  the  list  are  even  more  significant. 
Evidently  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  king  by  the  Solers  or 
their  friends, — who  took  small  thought  of  anyone  except  their  own 
party, — for  in  the  following  year  Peter  Colom  and  his  son  William 
Raymond  called  the  king's  attention  to  the  fact  that,  though  not 
mentioned  in  the  list,  they  and  others — probably  their  friends — had 
advanced  some  of  the  money — indeed  a  great  part  of  it,  as  they 
claimed, — and  the  king  directed  Soler,  who  thus  seems  to  have  had 
in  charge  the  distribution  of  the  dues,  to  see  that  their  claims  were 
settled  with  those  of  the  rest.^-  Clearly  then  the  Solers  were 
in  charge  of  the  matter  and  had  the  management  of  the  repayment. 

The  appointment  of  Rostand  de  Soler  as  his  deputy  and  the 
arrangement  for  paying  his  debts  alike  point  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  as  a  friend  of  the  Solers  that  Trubleville  took  office.  Trouble 
with  the  Colombine-controlled  commune  of  Bordeaux  might,  then, 
reasonably  be  expected,  and  it  is  not  long  before  we  find  this  antici- 
pation realized. 

The  first  year  of  Trubleville's  administration  passed  off  quietly 
enough.  Special  arrangements  were  made  with  Soler  and  Gaillard 
Colom  for  the  repayment  of  the  money  lent  by  them.^^     A  quarrel 

''  Ibid.,  49- 
"'  Ibid.,  91. 
''Ibid.,  49,  89. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS 


77 


with  Navarre  was  terminated  by  a  truce  negotiated  by  Soler  and 
approved  by  the  king-,-*  and  the  truce  with  France  was  prolonged,-^ 
thus  freeing  the  province  from  the  fear  of  foreign  intervention. 

The  year  1235,  however,  increased  the  likehhood  of  internal 
friction  between  a  seneschal  leaning  on  the  Solers  and  the  commune 
of  Bordeaux,  since  it  saw  Monader  replaced  as  mayor  by  Peter  Cal- 
hau,  one  of  the  chief  leaders  of  the  Colombines.  The  first  part  of 
this  year  was  not,  however,  marked  with  serious  difficulties.  A 
number  of  merchants  received  safe  conduct  for  their  ships  and  mer- 
chandise. Among  these  is  Alexander  de  Cambas,  whose  wines  were 
protected  in  June.-^  Alexander  was  a  Soler ;  at  least,  his  nephew 
Peter  was  one  of  the  members  of  the  faction  imprisoned  by  the  king 
during  Montfort's  administration,-'^  and  he  would  thus  seem  one  of 
the  few  members  of  his  party  who  was  also  connected  with  the  wine 
trade.  In  July  a  further  favor  was  bestowed  upon  him  when  the 
king  transferred  to  him  and  his  heirs  the  houses,  lands  and  buildings 
owned  by  Peter  de  Sancto  Erardo  in  and  near  the  town  of  La 
Reole,  which  had  been  forfeited  on  account  of  a  trespass  of  Peter's 
against  the  king.-^  What  the  trespass  was  we  are  not  informed,  but 
it  came  to  have  serious  consequences.  The  lands  were  not  given  in 
perpetuity,  but  were  to  be  held  till  the  king  should  restore  them  to 
their  owners.  The  king  may  further  have  irritated  the  Colombines 
against  the  seneschal,  who  was  no  doubt  the  prompter  of  the  policy, 
by  ordering,  in  July,  the  mayor,  jurats  and  commune  of  Bordeaux 
to  surrender  to  Trubleville  the  castle  of  St.  Macaire,  which  was  in 
their  hands.-^     The  commune  did  not,  however,  obey ;  for  in  October 

'*  Ibid.,  87,  and  in  Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  334. 

^  Pat.  Rolls,  1232-1247,  82  and  84.    Also  Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  330-333. 

^  Pat.  Rolls,  1232-1247,  no. 

"  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  284.     Pat.  Rolls,  1232-1247,  no. 

'^  Pat.  Rolls,  1232-1247,  113. 

''  Ibid. 


78  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

the  king  again  directs  them  to  surrender  it  to  Hugh  de  Vivona,^* 
who  thus  seems  to  have  remained  in  Gascony  after  his  surrender  of 
ofifice. 

In  England  Henry  was  at  strife  with  his  barons,  and  it  was, 
doubtless,  in  the  course  of  these  struggles  that  he  involved  himself 
in  more  direct  trouble  with  the  townspeople  through  the  seizure  of 
their  wines.  We  find  him  in  April  and  June  promising  redress  to 
certain  citizens  whose  wine  has  been  seized  and  in  December  paying 
to  Peter  de  St.  George  of  Dax  ii8  pounds  lo  shillings.  Peter 
acted  on  this  occasion  as  the  agent  of  John  Bivernan  of  Bordeaux, 
Peter  Ernaldi  de  la  Gride  of  Dax,  and  William  Vidou  de  Perer  of 
Bayonne.  It  may  be  well  to  note  also  that  the  payment  is  by  an 
order  on  the  treasurer  of  Ireland,  an  indication  of  the  extent  of 
Gascon  trade.^^ 

As  usual  the  seneschal  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  needed  the 
financial  support  of  the  citizens,  and  those  from  whom  he  received  it 
are  to  be  noted.  In  July  the  king  gave  a  bond  to  the  archbishop  of 
Bordeaux  for  1,500  marks  which  he  had  lent  to  Trubleville,^-  and  in 
the  same  month  he  gave  a  similar  bond  to  Arnold  May  sent  for  100 
marks.^^  Also,  in  July,  the  king  gave  a  bond  to  Raymond  Makayn 
and  Rrunus  Causat  for  300  marks,  and  one  to  Raymond  Brun  for 
200  marks  for  money  advanced  to  the  seneschal.^*  Now  of  these  men 
the  archbishop  might  well  be  in  sympathy  with  the  aristocratic 
faction.  Arnold  Maysent,  certainly,  and  Raymond  Makayn,  proba- 
bly, were  members  of  the  Soler  faction.  Causat  was  one  of  the  So- 
lers  oppressed  by  Montfort.  Raymond  Brun  was  of  the  same  faction. 

^"Jbid.,  128. 

"'^  Ibid.,  99,  107,  132. 

^nbid.,  113. 

''Ibid. 

'*Ibid.,  114. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS 


79 


The  bulk  of  the  money  seems  certainly  to  have  come  from  the  Soler 
party,  or  from  persons  favorable  to  them.^^ 

With  the  Solers  standing-  in  such  intimate  relations  with  the 
seneschal  the  Colombines  might  not  unnaturally  feel  some  anxiety 
as  to  their  continued  control  of  the  commune.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  it  was  Vivona's  influence  that  had  placed  them  in  power.  At  any 
rate  they  miight  reasonably  wish  to  remove  all  chances  of  Trubleville's 
intervening  in  the  elections  of  the  mayor  and  jurats.  It  was 
doubtless  from  some  such  motive  as  this  that  the  commune  in  July 
applied  to  Henry  for  a  confirmation  of  its  charter  which  he  accorded 
without  apparent  difficulty.^®  The  charter  thus  granted  is  the 
earliest  preserved  in  the  communal  archives  and  has  been  thought 
to  have  established  the  commune,  or  to  have  conceded  an  elective 
mayor,  whereas  it  conceded  nothing  that  the  town  had  not  already 
had  for  a  considerable  time. 

Evidently  there  were  fires  smouldering  in  Gascony  by  July  of 
1235.  The  crisis  came  during  a  meeting  at  Langon  held  by  the 
seneschal  to  proclaim  the  truce  with  France  and  also  a  general  peace 
for  Gascony.  We  have  seen  that  Henry  had  already  conferred  con- 
fiscated property  in  La  Reole  on  a  citizen  of  the  Soler  party.  Of 
what  happened  in  the  assembly  we  have  two  accounts  in  two  letters 
to  the  king,  one  written  by  two  brothers,  the  lords  of  Landiran,  and 
the  other  by  the  men  of  Sainte  Baseille.^^    The  regular  business  of 

"  Maysent  is  expressly  referred  to  as  a  friend  of  the  Solers  in  Pat.  Rolls^ 
1247-1258,  142.  Makayn  remained  in  Bordeaux  and  was  closely  associated 
witlh  the  Calhaux  at  a  time  when  Simon  de  Montfort  had  banished  the  Solers. 
Ibid.,  132,  etc. 

^'  Charter  Rolls,  I,  210.  Livre  des  Bouillons,  241.  Livre  des  Contnmes,  $12. 

"Shirley.  Royal  Letters,  I,  321;  II,  i.  Shirley,  however,  misdates  this 
letter  1228.  Champollion-Figeac  has  also  misdated  the  second  letter  as  1244. 
The  date,  however,  may  easily  be  determined,  as  the  letters  require  Truble- 
ville  to  be  seneschal  and  Peter  Calhau  mayor,  conditions  which  existed  only 
in  1235.  Calihau  was  mayor  in  1244,  but  Trubleville  was  not  seneschal  and 
Trubleville  was  seneschal  in  1228,  but  Calhau  was  not  mayor. 


go  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

the  meeting-  being  concluded,  the  Colombines  demanded  the  pardon 
of  the  citizens  of  La  Reole,  who  had  been  accused  of  treason  to  the 
king.  The  leader  in  making  this  demand  was  Peter  Calhau,  and, 
finding  the  seneschal  unwilling  to  accede  to  his  demand,  Calhau  and 
his  friends  broke  forth  in  violent  and  abusive  language,  threatening 
the  seneschal's  life  and  addressing  to  him  "shameful,  vile  and  enor- 
mous" words  which  the  modest  lords  of  Landiran  shrink  from  re- 
peating to  the  king.  In  the  conclusion  of  their  letter  the  brothers 
called  the  king's  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  was  a  party  at  Bor- 
deaux which  was  constantly  usurping  the  royal  functions  and  pre- 
rogatives. 

As  to  the  events  following  this  scene  the  citizens  of  Sainte  Bas- 
eille  are  more  explicit.  They  inform  us  that,  after  the  meeting,  Cal- 
hau and  others  returned  to  Bordeaux  and  seized  on  the  royal  castle, 
the  royal  revenues,  and  all  the  royal  property  in  that  city,  driving 
away  the  royal  bailiffs  and  servants.  They  even  ordered  the  men  of 
Sainte  Baseille  to  join  their  revolt,  but  these  loyal  subjects  refused 
and  informed  the  king  of  the  high-handed  proceedings  of  the  Bor- 
delais. 

Possibly  the  letters  exaggerate  the  revolutionary  conduct  of  the 
Colombines.  At  any  rate  they  were  far  too  powerful  to  be  dealt 
with  as  rebels,  or  for  any  very  severe  measures  to  be  taken  against 
them.  In  their  English  trade,  moreover,  they  bad  ties  which  bound 
them  not  to  go  too  far  in  defiance  of  the  English  government.  Un- 
der these  circumstances  a  compromise  was  adopted,  and  on  October 
20,  the  king  commissioned  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  Elias  Ridell, 
lord  of  Bergerac,  Amaneus  de  Eebret,  Peter  de  Bordeaux,  Bernard 
de  Ryon,  Raymond  Brun  de  Barsac,  Rustengo  de  Soler,  Gailkrd 
Colom  and  W.  A.  Emeric  to  arbitrate  the  differences  between  the 
mayor  and  commune  of  Bordeaux  and  the  seneschal,  and  he  com- 
manded the  commune  to  abide  by  their  decision.^^ 

•■"Paf.  Rolls,  1232-1247,  129. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS  8i 

The  choice  of  the  arbitrators — possibly  inspired  by  Trubleville — 
seems  rather  favorable  to  the  pro-aristocratic  party  of  the  Solers. 
Nor  is  this  impression  removed  by  an  order  of  December  9  com- 
manding the  treasurer  and  justiciary^  of  Ireland  to  pay  640  marks 
to  Raymond  Makayn,  Brunus  Causat,  Arnold  Maysent,  Raymond 
Brun  de  Barsac  and  Rustengo  de  Soler  or  their  agents.^'^  The  money 
had  been  lent  to  Trubleville  and  two  of  these  citizens  were  among 
the  arbitrators. 

What  decision  was  reached  by  the  commission  we  are  not  told. 
Possibly  a  compromise  of  some  sort  was  the  result,  for  the  king  par- 
doned certain  citizens  of  La  Reole  for  deserting  to  the  French.*'^ 
Nevertheless,  the  outcome  of  the  disturbances  was  favorable  to  the 
Solers,  since  Peter  Calhau  was  succeeded  as  mayor  by  Vigoros  Viger 
and  he  by  Rustengo  Soler  and  that  party  remained  in  power  till 
1243.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  violent  proceedings  of  the  Colom- 
bines  had  alienated  moderate  men  in  Bordeaux,  and  that  this,  com- 
bined with  the  seneschal's  pressure  and  the  action  of  the  arbitrators, 
facilitated  the  change. 

Calhau,  however,  did  not  at  once  quit  office  and  seems  to  have 
remained  somewhat  defiant  of  the  seneschal,  since  in  February,  1236 
(the  election  of  mayor  took  place  in  the  spring  so  that  Calhau  was 
still  in  office)  the  king  had  to  issue  a  mandate  to  the  mayor  of  Bor- 
deaux bidding  him  surrender  the  castle  of  St.  Macaire  and  all  the 
lands  of  the  late  Peter  de  Gaveret  to  Trubleville,  who  in  turn  was  to 
surrender  them  to  Vivona.*^  Evidently  he  had  refused  to  do  so  and 
given  as  an  excuse  that  he  had  not  been  paid  for  his  custody.  The 
king  expresses  his  surprise  at  such  a  demand,  affirming  that  the  cas- 
tle was  held  without  any  warrant  whatever. 

Whatever  the  exact  extent  and  nature  of  the  crisis  of  which  these 

"Ibid.,  132. 
*''Ibid.,  129. 
^'Ibid.,  135. 


82  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

documents  give  us  a  glimpse,  the  king  was  forced  to  take  notice  of  the 
debts  contracted  by  the  seneschal  during  his  difficulty  with  Bor- 
deaux. On  February  lo  Henry  promised  to  repay  the  500  pounds 
which  the  prior  of  St.  George  in  the  Isle  of  Oleron  had  advanced  to 
the  seneschal,  as  well  as  25  pounds  to  William  Gumbaud,  and  122 
pounds  15  shillings  to  Elias  Viger  of  St.  fimilion.*^  Of  these  Gum- 
baud  and  Viger  were  members  of  the  vSoler  party — Viger  though 
characterized  in  the  rolls  as  of  St.  fimilion  was  a  citizen  of  Bor- 
deaux*^— and  the  prior  may  well  have  belonged  to  the  aristocratic 
faction  or  have  been  neutral  in  the  strife.  Certainly,  the  Solers  seem 
now  to  be  men  who  are  helping  the  seneschal  in  financial  matters. 
This  impression  is  confirmed  by  other  transactions  of  the  same 
month,  when  this  same  Elias  Viger  received  the  farm  of  the  royal 
customs  of  Bordeaux  for  a  term  of  two  years  at  a  rent  of  40,000 
shillings  of  Bordeaux.** 

The  king  also  strengthened  the  seneschal  by  ordering  all  persons 
in  Gascony,  and  especially  the  mayor  and  jurats  of  Bordeaux,  to  as- 
sist him  in  recovering  alienated  property.  Probably  there  is  here  in 
view  such  places  as  the  castle  of  St.  Macaire,  which  the  Colombines 
were  still  holding  in  spite  of  the  king's  orders,  as  new  orders  were  ad- 
dressed to  the  mayor  concerning  it  in  March.*^  Some  light  is  thrown 
on  the  extent  of  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Solers  by  instruc- 
tions of  the  king  in  March  which  show  them  to  have  been  in  charge 
of  the  castle  of  Belin,  belonging  to  Geoffrey  Ridell,  which  they 
are  directed  to  surrender  to  him.*'' 

With  the  Soler  party  thus  in  power  in  Bordeaux  and  in  favor 
with  the  seneschal,  the  Colombines  might  well  he  anxious  to  secure 

*^Ibid.,  136. 

*'Ibid.,  137- 
**Ibid. 

*'Ibid.,  139. 

*^Ibid.,  138. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS  83 

g'uarantees  for  their  privileges  and  rights.  This  is  doubtless  the 
meaning  of  Henry's  confirmation  at  this  time  of  a  cloth  monopoly- 
granted  in  1233,  when  Gaucem  Colom  was  mayor,  to  Bonafus  de 
Sancta  Columba  and  confirmed  by  the  commune  during  Calhau's 
term  of  office.*^  The  king  also  promised  to  continue  the  repayment 
to  Gaillard  Colom  of  the  money  lent  by  him  to  Hugh  de  Vivona.*^ 

The  Solers,  once  in  power  in  Bordeaux,  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
much  more  inclined  to  respect  royal  rights  than  their  rivals,  for  the 
king  is  soon  again  obliged  to  interfere  in  reference  to  the  region  of 
Entre-deux-Mers,  where  the  commune  continued  to  enroll  knights 
and  others  who  sought  in  this  way  to  escape  the  service  due  the 
king.  This  led  Henry  to  address  letters  patent  to  the  mayor  and 
commune  forbidding  this  or  other  infringements  of  his  rights.*^ 

In  June  the  citizens  took  a  farther  step  in  the  way  of  getting  the 
control  of  the  collection  of  the  royal  revenues  into  their  own  hands. 
Henry  in  that  month  farmed  the  whole  custom  of  avalage  of  wines 
at  Bordeaux  to  the  mayor  and  citizens  for  five  years  for  3,000  pounds 
of  Bordeaux.^''  He  also  on  the  next  day  discharged — or  promised 
to  discharge,  not  always  the  same  thing  with  Henry — several  debts 
of  Trubleville  and  others.  He  promised  to  repay  2373^  marks  ad- 
vanced in  two  loans  by  the  archbishop  and  400  marks  which  the 
archbishop  had  advanced  at  the  king's  request  to  Geofifrey  Ridell, 
lord  of  Blaye.^^ 

The  condition  of  Gascony  seemed  on  the  whole  peaceful  and  the 
administration  of  Trubleville  to  have  been  fairly  successful.  He 
had  overthrown  the  Colombine  faction  in  Bordeaux  and  allied  him- 
self closely  with  the  Solers,  the  head  of  that  faction  being  the  mayor 

"Ibid.,  138.    The  royal  confirmation  makes  Calhau  mayor  in  1234,  doubt- 
less a  mistake  for  1235. 
*'Ibid.,  161. 
"Ibid.,  160. 
''Ibid.,  187. 
''Ibid.,  188. 


84  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

for  1237.  His  policy  had  been  friendly  to  the  nobles  and  the  disor- 
ders which  marked  the  beginning  of  this  rule  appear  to  have  quieted 
down.  Henry  would  seem,  therefore,  to  have  had  reason  to  be  satis- 
fied with  his  seneschal.  Trubleville's  tenure  of  office  was,  however, 
interrupted  for  a  brief  time,  for  on  July  13  the  king  addressed  an 
order  to  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux  as  seneschal  of  Gascony.^^  But 
in  August  the  archbishop  is  out  of  office,  as  is  evident  from  the  in- 
structions of  the  king  relative  to  complaints  which  reached  him  from 
the  dioceses  of  Dax  and  Bayonne.^^  Probably  the  archbishop  only 
acted  in  some  absence  of  Trubleville. 

Very  soon,  however,  quarrels  between  the  towns  called  for  the 
royal  interv^ention,  for  Henry  ordered  the  mayor  and  bailiffs  of  Bor- 
deaux to  protect  the  merchants  and  citizens  of  Dax  and  to  respect 
their  liberties.^*  Evidently  the  commune  of  Bordeaux  under  the 
control  of  the  Solers  was  not  concerned  to  cultivate  a  good  under- 
standing with  the  Dacc[uois.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  Solers — 
individually  or  through  the  commune — had  taken  over  the  collection 
of  the  royal  revenues  at  Bordeaux  and  especially  those  on  wine,  and 
in  the  royal  mandate  reference  is  made  to  the  wines  of  the  citizens 
of  Dax  as  being  especially  a  cause  of  the  dispute. 

In  August  Trubleville  was  replaced  as  seneschal  by  Hubert 
Huse,-'^^  whose  term  of  office  was  extremely  brief  for  in  November 
of  1238  Trubleville  was  once  more  in  office.  There  seems  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  on  being  thus  recalled  to  office  Trubleville  departed 
in  any  way  from  his  former  policy.  It  would  seem  also  from  the 
silence  of  the  rolls  that  his  administration  was  on  the  whole  success- 
ful. During  the  first  two  years  of  his  second  administration  nothing 
occurred  to  call  for  royal  intervention,  which  would  seem  clear  evi- 

"'Ibid.,  189. 
'■''Ihid.,  191. 
'^Ibid.,  191. 
'"'^  Ibid.,  194.    Shirley  in  his  list  makes  him  take  office  in  September. 


PARTY  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  TOWNS  85 

dence  that  the  province  was  fairly  tranquil,  especially  in  comparison 
to  its  former  state.  During-  these  two  years  the  Solers  continued 
dominant  in  Bordeaux,  where  Bernard  d'Alhan  and  Martin  Faure, 
both  of  that  faction,  acted  as  mayors.  In  1241  Rustengo  de  Soler 
himself  became  mayor.  In  this  year  the  king  issued  a  few  letters 
patent,  but  as  they  deal  with  matters  of  minor  importance  we  have 
no  need  to  examine  them.  On  September  22,  1241,  Trubleville  re- 
tired from  office  for  the  last  time  and  Henry,  already  meditating  a 
renewal  of  the  French  war,  chose  as  his  successor  Rustengo  de  Soler, 
the  mayor  of  Bordeaux.  This  would  seem  to  mark  the  climax 
of  the  fortunes  of  that  party.  They  had  been  six  years  in  power 
in  Bordeaux  and  their  chief  was  now  the  head  of  that  city  and  at  the 
same  time  of  the  English  government  in  Gascony. 

From  such  a  survey  as  we  have  here  attempted,  incomplete 
though  it  may  be,  it  is  evident  to  what  extent  already,  in  the  ordinary 
time  of  peace,  the  government  relied  upon  the  townspeople.  They 
hold  castles,  they  farm  the  revenues,  they  advance  money  to  the  sen- 
eschal, sometimes  having  to  wait  long  for  repayment.  They  appear 
as  indispensable  to  the  working  of  the  English  rule  and  at  times 
disposed  to  take  advantage  of  their  importance.  What  part  they 
played  when  England  found  herself  again  at  war  with  France  we 
have  now  to  see. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  POITOU,  1242 

Henry  renews  the  war  with  France.  Defeat  at  Taillebourg.  Financial  and 
military  aid  given  by  the  towns  during  the  campaign.  Concessions  to  the 
townspeople.  Loans  of  the  Colombines  to  the  king.  They  regain  power 
in  Bordeaux.  Henry  remains  in  Gascony.  Continued  loans  by  towns- 
people. 

Henry,  who  had  never  acquiesced  in  the  loss  of  Poitou  and  the 
north,  was  constantly  seeking  an  alliance  or  combination  which 
would  enable  him  to  renew  the  war  with  fair  prospects  of  success. 
At  length  in  1242  the  time  seemed  ripe  for  an  attempt.  It  will  be 
recalled  that  Louis  VIII  had  begun  the  practice  of  providing  for  his 
younger  sons  by  granting  appanages.  He  had  given  Poitou  after 
its  conquest  to  his  son  Alfonso.  Hugh  of  La  Marche  had  now  in- 
volved himself  in  trouble  with  Alfonso.^  Nor  was  he  the  only  dis- 
contented noble  in  Poitou ;  on  the  contrary,  constant  appeals  were 
being  made  to  Henry  with  promises  of  support  and  certain  success.^ 
The  EngHsh  monarch  therefore  resolved  to  renew  the  war,  hoping 
to  recover  at  least  Poitou  from  the  French. 

Our  special  interest  here  lies  naturally  with  the  towns  and  their 
people,  having  in  view  to  trace  their  relations  with  the  king  and 
measure  the  extent  of  their  support.  It  is  in  this  campaign  the 
easier  to  estimate  their  role  since  the  English  parliament  opposed 

*  Matt.   Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  IV,   178.     See  also  the  letter  published 
by  M.  Delisle  in  the  Bibliothcque  de  l'£cole  des  Charles,  serie  II,  IV,  513- 
*Matt.  Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  IV,  181. 


HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION  87 

the  war  and  refused  the  king  any  money  for  his  expedition.^  Money, 
indeed,  was  the  one  great  essential.  Henry  was  informed  that  Poi- 
tou  and  Gascony  would  furnish  him  men  enough  if  he  could  only 
pay  them.* 

In  spite  of  the  discouraging  attitude  of  the  parliament  Henry 
set  out,  and  on  May  13  landed  at  Royan  w'ith  some  300  knights.^ 
The  first  and  obvious  step  was  to  summon  the  feudal  forces  of  Gas- 
cony to  his  aid.  On  May  25  he  addressed  a  summons  to  the  various 
knights  and  barons  of  Gascony  who  owed  him  military  service,  com- 
manding them  to  present  themselves  and  their  retainers  at  Pons  on 
the  Thursday  after  Pentecost  (June  12).  On  the  same  day,  the  king 
addressed  a  summons  to  the  communes  of  Bordeaux,  Bayonne,  St. 
Macaire,  St.  fimilion.  La  Reole,  Langon,  and  Bazas,  ordering  them 
to  have  their  militia  at  Royan  on  the  same  date.® 

This  appeal  to  the  communes  for  the  aid,  which  under  feudal  law 
they  ow^ed  their  suzerain,  seemed  for  an  instant  to  meet  with  a  re- 
pulse. Bordeaux  pointed  out  to  the  king  that,  by  a  privilege  pre- 
viously granted  to  the  town,  her  citizens  were  not  bound  to  serve 
outside  their  diocese.'^  This,  which  at  first  glance  might  seem  like 
a  refusal  to  follow  Henry,  did  not  in  reality  bear  that  significance. 
What  the  Bordelais  objected  to  was  not  the  service  demanded  of 
them  but  the  manner  of  the  demand.  It  soon  appeared  that  they 
were  walling  to  aid  the  king  but  of  their  own  free  w^ill  and  not  be- 
cause of  a  feudal  obligation.  Henry  plainly  recognized  this  attitude 
and  sanctioned  it  in  three  letters  patent  issued  on  June  16  and  17.^ 

^  Ibid.,  IV,  181-184.  Tout,  in  Hunt  and  Poole,  Political  History  of 
England,  III,  63. 

*  Tout,  Ihid. 

*  Tout,  Ihid. 

"Roles  Gascons,  no.  160.    Rymcr,  Foedera,  I,  402. 
''  Livre  des  coutumes,  529. 

*  Roles  Gascons,  no.  281.  Pat.  Rolls,  1232-1247,  308.  Henceforth  through' 
out  the  chapter  the  Roles  Gascons  will  be  referred  to  as  R.  G.    The  refer- 


88  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

In  these  he  fully  acknowledged  the  exemption  they  had  pleaded  and 
confirmed  the  liberty  to  which  they  had  appealed.  At  the  same  time 
he  thanked  the  mayor  and  commune  for  the  service  they  were  ren- 
dering' in  Saintonge  and  Poitou.  This  he  promised  should  be  con- 
sidered not  as  a  due,  but  as  a  free  gift,  and  should  in  no  wise  be  held 
as  a  precedent.  Possibly  one  reason  for  the  readiness  of  Bordeaux 
to  support  the  king  was  the  influence  of  Rustengo  de  Soler,  who  was 
now  seneschal  of  Gascony  and  had  been  mayor  the  preceding  year. 
Perhaps,  too,  such  considerations  had  had  their  weight  in  securing 
the  powerful  burgher  his  appointment. 

In  the  campaign  the  towns  rendered  Henry  important  services. 
Bordeaux  contributed  to  the  royal  army  both  men  and  munitions  of 
war.^  Bayonne  despatched  her  galleys. ^°  In  the  assembling  and 
equipment  of  the  royal  forces  the  seneschal  Rustengo  bore  an  im- 
portant part,  even  using  his  own  money  when  needful,  for  at 
Saintes,  on  July  3,  Henry  issued  letters  patent  promising  to  repay 
him  the  sums  expended  in  equipping  galleys  and  in  paying  crossbow- 
men  and  others  for  the  king's  service." 

With  such  forces  as  he  could  get  together  Henry  at  once  entered 
on  a  campaign  which  proved  brief  and  inglorious.  He  invaded 
Saintonge  only  to  be  decisively  defeated  at  Taillebourg.^-  Louis 
pressed  forward  and  threatened  for  a  moment  to  besiege  Bordeaux, 
but  the  outbreak  of  an  epidemic  in  his  army  led  him  to  abandon  this 

ences  moreover  are  to  number  of  entry,  those  of  the  Patent  Rolls  to  the  pages. 
O'f  the  Patent  Rolls,  the  above  volume  may  be  understood  unless  otherwise 
stated. 

''' R.  G.,  1/4.  All  documents  in  the  Roles  Gascons  are  not  to  be  found 
in  the  Patent  Rolls.  All  documents  issued  in  Gascony  were  entered  in  the 
Gascon  rolls.    In  England  they  were  reenrolled  in  their  proper  roll. 

'"R.  G.,  26,  589,  631,  1249,  etc.     Pat.  Rolls,  337,  343. 

"i?.  G.,  315.     Pat.  Rolls,  310. 

"Henry  himself  wrote  an  account  of  his  campaign  in  a  letter  to  the  em- 
peror.    Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  25. 


HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION  89 

purpose  and  withdraw  to  the  north.  A  truce  for  five  years  was 
finally  concluded  in  April,  1243.^^ 

But  the  citizens — ^especially  of  Bordeaux — supported  the  king 
financially  as  well  as  in  the  field.  Between  the  battle  of  Taillebourgf 
and  the  truce  Henry  spent  most  of  his  time  in  Bordeaux,  where  he 
contrived  to  quarrel  with  such  of  his  English  vassals  as  had  followed 
him.  His  life  there  would  seem  to  have  been  reckless  and  extrava- 
gant, if  Matthew  Paris  is  to  be  trusted.^*  The  funds  he  could  ob- 
tain from  England  were  probably  rather  scanty,  and,  still  planning 
to  renew  the  war,  he  wished  to  subsidize  various  nobles.  To  accom- 
plish this  purpose  he  had  recourse  to  his  seneschal,  who  advanced 
100  marks  to  Amaneus  Lebret  at  the  king's  request  and  received 
therefor  royal  letters  patent/^  whatever  they  might  turn  out  to  be 
worth.  Lebret  also  obtained  100  pounds  from  Gaillard  Colom  ;^^ 
who  likewise  advanced  500  marks  to  Raymond  of  Toulouse,  which 
debt  the  king  assumed. ^^  Peter  Alfonso,  son  of  the  king  of  Portu- 
gal, received  40  marks  from  the  same  wealthy  merchant. ^^  The  vis- 
count of  Castillon  had  similarly  raised  160  marks,  on  the  king's  or- 
der, from  Rustengo  de  Mercato,  but  only  after  William  Raymond 
Colom  and  Peter  Calhau  had  pledged  themselves  for  the  king.^^ 

During  the  campaign  itself  Henry  had  been  forced  to  rely  for 
a  considerable  measure  of  financial  support  on  the  citizens.  In  July, 
while  still  at  Saintes  expecting  an  attack  from  the  French,  he  had 
found  his  money  running  short ;  for,  on  the  tenth,  he  wrote  to  Gailllard 
Colom  asking  him  to  advance  as  much  money  as  possible.-*'  What 
the  response  was  cannot  be  determined  with  certainty ;  but,  at  any  rate,. 

"  R3'mer,  Foedera,  I,  416. 
"  Chronica  Majora,  IV,  229. 
"i?.  G.,  440.  Pat.  Rolls,  322. 
''R.  G.,  361.  Pat.  Rolls,  314. 
"R.  G.,  553-  Pat.  Rolls,  334- 
"i?.  G.,  361.  Pat.  Rolls,  314. 
"  R.  G.,  698.  Pat.  Rolls,  350. 
'"R.  G.,zz. 


90 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


on  the  twelfth  Henry  acknowledged  a  debt  to  him  of  650  pounds  of 
La  Marche  for  eight  war  horses.-^  Horses,  indeed,  seem  to  have 
been  in  great  demand  for  the  royal  army.  On  July  7  Henry  ordered 
his  seneschal  to  stop  at  Bordeaux  a  ship  from  Spain  bound  for  La 
Rochelle  and  loaded  with  horses  and  other  merchandise,  to  prevent 
their  reaching  a  hostile  prince. ^^  Very  likely  he  afterwards  used 
them  for  his  own  army ;  but  of  this  we  have  no  positive  information. 
On  July  25,  at  Pons,  the  king  acknowledged  a  debt  to  Gaillard  Colom 
of  96  pounds  for  seven  horses  purchased  for  the  royal  service.-^  This 
writ  was  afterward  surrendered ;  but  on  August  5  one  was  issued 
for  327  marks  for  15  horses,^*  and  on  October  18  the  king  gave  him 
a  bond  for  40  marks  to  pay  him  for  a  horse  he  had  bought  for  John 
Fitz-Geofifrey.^°  Finally,  on  October  23,  Henry  pledged  himself  to 
pay  Gaillard  25  marks  from  the  first  money  which  reached  him  from 
England  for  a  loan  made  to  William  de  Munt  Revel  for  the  purchase 
of  a  horse.^" 

These  were,  however,  by  no  means  the  only  expenses  which  the 
king  was  forced  to  meet  by  loans.  He  would  appear  to  have  called 
upon  the  citizens  of  Bayonne  for  an  amount  of  military  service  be- 
yond their  feudal  dues  and  for  this  he  was  expected  to  pay.  On 
August  17  he  acknowledged  a  debt  to  them  for  their  services  amount- 
ing to  10,000  shillings  of  Bordeaux  and  gave  them  license  to  harass 
his  enemies."  The  next  day,  August  18,  he  gave  a  bond  to  the 
mayor  and  commune  of  Bordeaux  for  300  marks,  which  they  had 

^^R.  G.,  328.    Pat.  Rolls,  311. 

""R.  G.,  31. 

=^  R.  G.,  350. 

'*i?.  G.,361.    Pat.  Rolls,  2,14. 

''R.G.,S46.    Pat.  Rolls,  333- 

"R.G.,6i2.  The  Roles  gives  the  sum  of  money  as  1025  marks,  which 
is  extravagant  for  one  horse.  The  Pat.  Rolls  gives  the  sum  as  25  marks.  Pat. 
Rolls,  341. 

"  R.  G.,   382,  383.     Pat.  Rolls,  316. 


HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION  91 

lent  him  for  the  payment  of  the  Bayonnese  sailors  and  officers. 
Later,  on  November  9,  he  ordered  his  treasurer,  in  England,  to  pay 
this  sum  to  the  nuncio  of  the  commune.'^  Bayonne  was  also  re- 
warded for  her  services  by  a  privilege  which  accorded  to  the  citizens 
the  right  of  bringing  their  grain  and  merchandise  to  Bordeaux  and 
of  purchasing  wine  there  and  transporting  it  to  Bayonne.^^ 

But  the  king  had  other  expenses  than  those  of  a  strictly  military 
character.  Extravagance  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  royal  vices 
and  Henry  is  frequently  reproached  with  it  by  his  contemporaries. 
Matthew  Paris  declares  that  the  king  remained  at  Bordeaux  use- 
lessly squandering  his  treasure.^'*  But  not  many  traces  of  this  ex- 
travagance meet  us  in  the  rolls,  though  some  of  the  expenditure 
just  recounted  may  have  been  useless.  In  a  few  entries,  however, 
we  find  Henry  borrowing  money  for  articles  of  luxury;  and  here 
too  he  turned  to  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux.  On  August  6,  from  his 
camp  on  the  Gironde,  he  ordered  his  treasurers  to  pay  to  Centario 
Gondemer,  brother  of  Peter  Gondemer,  62  pounds,  16  solidi  and  i 
denarius  for  various  articles  thereafter  enumerated  which  had  been 
purchased  of  Peter.  Among  the  articles  we  find  almonds,  dates, 
pepper  and  ginger.^^  Later  he  requested  Gaillard  Colom  to  pur- 
chase for  him  some  silk,  some  scarlet  cloth  and  some  ginger  at  Mont- 
pellier.^- 

There  are,  however,  numerous  acknowledgements  of  loans  where 
the  use  of  the  money  is  not  specified.  Thus,  on  August  20,  he  con- 
ferred on  Gaillard  Colom  the  rent  of  the  king's  landes  of  Bordeaux 
till  he  should  be  repaid  the  sum  of  400  marks  which  he  had  lent  the 
king.^^     These  letters,  indeed,  were  surrendered  and  cancelled  but 

='R.  G.,  384.    Pat.  Rolls,  316,  and  R.  G.,  1651. 

'"  R.  G.,  715.     Pat.  Rolls,  357. 

'"  Chronica  Majora,  IV,  229. 

"  R.  G.,  200. 

''R.G.,yi. 

"i?.  G.,393-     Pat.  Rolls,  217. 


92 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


on  the  thirtieth  new  letters  give  him  the  profits  of  the  king's  landes 
of  Bordeaux  for  a  time  in  part  payment  of  a  debt  of  600  marks  :^* 
probably  the  old  400  plus  a  new  loan.  To  Gaillard  Henry  also  ac- 
knowledged a  debt  of  1,042  marks  advanced  for  various  purposes, 
and  promised  repayment  in  England.^^  This  was  on  August  5  and 
by  December  he  acknowledges  a  debt  of  500  pounds  Bordelais  to  the 
same  citizen.^'''  Of  Raymond  Makayn,  a  citizen  of  Bordeaux  engaged 
in  the  wine  trade  and  associated  with  Monader  and  Arnold  Calhau 
in  charge  of  the  royal  mint,  the  king  borrowed  500  marks. ^'^ 

Though  Henry  drew  the  greater  part  of  his  loans  from  the  citi- 
zens of  Bordeaux,  he  also  borrowed  to  a  less  degree  from  the  other 
towns  and  their  citizens.  Thus  he  obtained  300  marks  from  Peter 
Rosset  of  Bayonne,  the  loan  being  contracted  at  Bordeaux.^^  Also 
he  allowed  La  Reole  to  commute  the  military  service  which  the  citi- 
zens owed  him  by  money  payments^''  and  borrowed  from  some  of 
their  citizens.*'^  Among  these  loans  was  one  of  5,000  shillings  made 
to  Henry  by  Raymond  de  Pins  and  his  brother  Donatus,  citizens  of 
La  Reole  and  nephews  of  the  Bishop  of  Bazas.*^ 

The  church  too  was  not  neglected,  but  in  common  with  the  towns- 
people furnished  supplies  to  the  king.  Thus,  for  example,  the  chap- 
ter of  St.  Andrews  lent  him  10,000  shillings  of  Bordeaux,*-  and  the 

^'R.G.,AOS.    Pat.  Roll s,2,ig. 

''R.G.,  361.    Pat.  Rolls,  314. 

''R.G.,688.    Pat.  Rolls,  349. 

"  R.  G.,  493.    Pat.  Rolls,  327. 

'' /?.  C,  385,  387.  Pat.  Rolls,  317.  T'hese  letters  were  cancelled  and  in 
January  of  1243  the  king  gave  Rosset  a  bond  for  200  marks,  very  possibly  a 
remainder  of  the  earlier  300.    R.G.,807. 

''R.G.,  306,  308,  337,  368,  588.    Pat.  Rolls,  310,  312,  315,  337- 

*°  R.  G.,  400,  636.     Pat.  Rolls,  318,  343- 

"7?.  C,  667.  Pat.  Rolls,  347.  Canceled  but  repeated  by  new  letters.  R.  G., 
723.  Pat.  Rolls,  352.  For  these  connections  with  La  Reole  see  entry  in  the 
Recognitiones  feudorum,  in  Archives  de  la  Gironde,  III,  5.  Also  Bemont, 
Simon  de  Mont  fort,  31. 

*'R.G.,  461.    Pat.  Rolls,  325. 


HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION  93 

dean  and  chapter  of  St.  Severin's  6,000  shillings  of  Bordeaux,  and 
the  abbot  and  convent  of  St.  Cross  100  marks,*^  all  these  churches 
being  situated  in  Bordeaux. 

In  spite  of  these  outside  sources  of  revenue  in  the  other  Gascon 
towns  and  the  church,  the  king's  main  reliance  was  in  the  townspeo- 
ple of  Bordeaux.  We  may  well  then  inquire  a  little  more  closely 
who  the  citizens  of  that  town  were  who  made  the  loans  in  question 
to  the  king?  Soler  had  evidently  as  seneschal  used  some  of  his  own 
money  for  the  king's  service ;  but  the  largest  single  creditor  is  Gail- 
lard  Colom.  The  others  were  Arnold  Maysent,  Raymond  Makayn, 
Peter  Gondemer,  Rustengo  de  Mercato,  Peter  Calhau,  and  the  com- 
mune itself.  Now  with  the  exception  of  the  Solers,  who  would  seem 
to  have  abandoned  the  business,'**  all  these  persons  were  interested 
in  the  English  wine  trade.  Though  Gaillard  Colom  does  not  directly 
appear,  his  family  were  deeply  involved,'*^  as  we  have  seen,  and  it  is 
by  no  means  unlikely  that  he  sold  his  own  wine  through  his  relatives. 
Of  Mercato  it  is  enough  to  recall  that  his  money  was  only  advanced 
on  the  guarantee  of  W.  R.  Colom  and  Peter  Calhau.  That  Calhau 
dealt  in  wine  is  clearly  to  be  seen  from  a  document  of  the  next  year, 
when  the  king  acknowledges  a  debt  to  both  him  and  his  brother  for 
302  doUa  of  wine.**'  Of  Makayn  it  need  only  be  said  to  make  clear 
his  interest  that  in  1253  the  king  exempted  some  of  his  wine  from 
duties  in  England.*^  Of  Gondemer  we  need  only  recall  that  the 
money  due  is  to  be  paid  to  his  brother  and  the  payment  to  be  made 
in  England.  There  remains  then  Arnold  Maysent,  of  whom  the  king 
borrowed  200  marks.*^    He  is  first  mentioned  in  letters  patent  issued 

"  R.  G.,  468, 469.    Pat.  Rolls,  325. 

"  At  any  rate  no  further  reference  occurs  in  the  rolls  to  connect  them 
•with  it. 

"  See  later  in  chapter  the  privilege  accorded  William  Raymond   Colom. 

*"  R.  G.,  1677. 

"R.G.,26g7. 

*^R.G.,666.    Pat.  Rolls,  347. 


94  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

June  25,*^  from  which  it  appears  that  he  had  complained  to  the  king 
that  Bertram  de  Cryoyl,  in  order  to  provision  the  castle  of  Dover, 
had  seized  some  of  his  wine.  On  receiving  his  complaint  the  king 
ordered  Bertram  to  pay  for  the  wine,  or,  if  he  did  not  have  the 
money,  to  inform  him  of  its  value  so  that  he  might  do  so. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  Henry's  chief  help  in  a  financial  way  came 
from  the  wine  merchants  of  Bordeaux.  Unfortunately  we  are  not 
able  to  estimate  precisely  how  important  this  aid  was  to  him.  Yet 
the  sums  he  borrowed  must  have  had  a  very  considerable  military 
significance  in  a  time  where  a  knight's  wages  amounted  to  but  2  shil- 
lings a  day.^"  What  then  were  the  motives  of  this  support?  The 
men  in  question,  profiting  as  they  did  by  the  union  of  Gascony  to 
England,  may  well  have  been  willing  to  support  Henry  more  or  less 
strongly  against  his  rival.  He  could,  if  he  would,  extend  and  sup- 
port their  valuable  commercial  privileges,  and  certain  facts  strongly 
suggest  that  to  some  extent  they  bartered  loans  for  privileges.  On 
October  16  Henry  addressed  a  letter  to  the  mayor  and  galiotis  of 
Bayonne.^^  They  were  to  collect  for  the  king  a  duty  of  5  solidi  for 
each  dolium  of  wine  which  they  carried,  with  the  exception  of  wane 
belonging  to  citizens  of  Bordeaux.  Such  an  exemption  was  doubt- 
less well  worth  having,  and  the  impecunious  monarch  might  well 
concede  it  to  those  who  were  advancing  him  such  sums  of  money. 
But  individuals  likewise  might  obtain  exemptions  and  privileges. 
In  the  letters  patent  by  which  the  king  acknowledged  the  loan  of  200 
marks  by  Arnold  Maysent  he  further  accorded  to  that  burgher  the 
privilege  of  loading  one  ship  with  wine  on  the  Charente,  and  of 
carrying  that  wine  to  any  part  of  the  king's  dominions,  or  to  the  do- 
minions of  any  friendly  prince.^^    The  Charente  river,  it  will  be  re- 

*'R.G.,2o. 

"•  R.  G.,  2564.  Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  290. 

"/?.  C.S^'^.  Pat.  Rolls,  332. 

"/?.(;.,  666.  Pat.  Rolls,  347. 


HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION 


95 


called,  flowed  through  territory  then  subject  to  the  French,  with 
whom  commercial  intercourse  had  been  forbidden.  If  Arnold  May- 
sent  could  be  thus  satisfied  what  did  Gaillard  Colom  get?  We  shall 
deal  presently  with  the  measures  which  were  taken  to  secure  him 
the  principal  of  the  money  lent ;  but  there  was  one  commercial  con- 
cession in  which  he  was  doubtless  interested,  although  he  did  not 
appear  directly.  On  July  25,  Henry  by  letters  patent  extended  cer- 
tain privileges  to  William  Raymond  Colom. "^  Gaillard  had  already 
lent  money  to  the  king;  since,  on  the  twenty-seventh,  the  king  au- 
thorized him  to  receive  all  dues  of  the  city  of  Bordeaux  in  payment 
of  a  debt,^*  though  the  amount  is  not  specified,  and  had  acknowl- 
edged specific  loans  of  650  pounds^^  and  96  marks.^*  The  privileges 
accorded  to  William  were,  then,  very  probably  in  part  payment  for 
the  loan,  and  very  possibly  an  engagement  of  loans  to  follow.  By 
this  privilege  Henry  took  W.  R.  Colom  and  his  goods  under  his  pro- 
tection and  conceded  to  him  the  right  to  come  and  go  freely  and 
safely  with  his  merchandise  throughout  the  king's  dominions,  wheth- 
er by  land  or  sea.  In  addition  he  is  given  the  privilege  of  taking 
300  tuns  of  wine,  annually,  to  Bordeaux  or  elsewhere  free  from  alt 
royal  dues  and  customs,  saving — and  it  is  a  significant  reservation — 
the  liberties  of  the  city  of  London,  Now  it  is  by  no  means  impossi- 
ble that  William  acted  as  the  agent  for  the  sale  of  goods  belonging 
to  Gaillard  as  well  as  his  own.  At  any  rate,  it  would  seem  likely  that 
this  privilege  to  William  Raymond  was  due  largely  to  the  loyal  lib- 
erality of  Gaillard.  Perhaps  also  the  influence  of  the  family  in  the 
commune  counted  for  something. 

One  further  point  suggests  itself.     The  Coloms  were  the  king's 
heaviest  creditors,  and  of  the  others,  Calhau  belonged  to  their  party, 

*"/?.  G.,349.  Pat.  Rolls,  313. 

"  R.  G.,  352.  Pat.  Rolls,  314. 

''R.G.,328.  Pat.  Rolls,  311. 

"  R.  G.,  350.  Pat.  Rolls,  313. 


96  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

as  also,  in  all  probability,  did  Gondemer  and  Makayn.  Certainly 
Gondemer  was  acting  mayor  in  1253,"'  when  the  Colombines  were  in 
power  and  the  Solers  banished  from  the  city.  Makayn  can  hardly 
have  been  identified  with  the  Soler  faction,  although  it  is  true  that 
when,  in  1249,  Henry  ordered  the  viscounts  of  London  to  seize  such 
of  this  party  as  could  be  found  in  that  city,  we  find  among  those 
named  a  Raymond  Arnold  Makayn. ^^  This  is  the  only  occasion  when 
the  middle  name  Arnold  is  mentioned,  which  in  itself  creates  a  sus- 
picion that  it  may  refer  to  a  different  person ;  the  more  so  as  there 
is  also  mentioned  in  the  same  connection  an  Arnold  Makayn  de  la 
Ruchelle,  showing  that  the  name  was  not  a  very  unusual  one.  This 
supposition  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  in  1253,  at  a  time  when 
the  Soler  leaders  were  in  exile,  Raymond  Makayn  not  only  remained 
in  Bordeaux  but  received  favors  from  the  king,^^  and  was  associated 
with  Calhau.'^"  Both  Mercato  and  Maysent  would  seem  to  have  been 
Solers.*'^  It  would  appear,  then,  that  of  the  royal  creditors 
Gaillard  Colom,  Raymond  Makayn,  Peter  Calhau  and  Peter  Gon- 
demer were  members  of  the  Colombine  party,  and  that  on  the  other 
side  stood  the  seneschal  Rustengo  de  Soler,  Arnold  Maysent  and 
Rustengo  de  Mercato.  The  significance  of  this  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  money  lent  to  the  king  was  ad- 
vanced by  one  of  the  two  political  parties  in  the  town,  and  that  the 
party  which  would  seem  to  have  been  in  opposition. 

In  1241  Rustengo  de  Soler  was  mayor  of  Bordeaux  and  seneschal 
of  Gascony.  In  ApriP^  of  1242  he  was  succeeded  as  mayor  by  Peter 
Viger  of  his  own  party."^    It  was  in  July  that  the  various  loans  cited 

"  R.  G.,  2652. 

'"  S'hirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  381. 
''  R.  G.,  2697. 

""  R.G.,2147,  2149,  2425.     Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  248,  249,  275. 
"'  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  282,  R.  G.,  2673. 
°^  The  election  of  the  mayor  seems  to  have  taken  place  in  April. 
"'Viger  was  arrested  wit)h  the  Solers  in  1249.     Bemont,  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort, 282. 


HENRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION 


97 


above  began,  and,  as  we  saw,  the  bulk  came  from  the  Colombine 
faction.  On  November  lo  Rustengo  resigned  the  seneschalship.*'* 
In  April,  1243,  Peter  Viger  was  succeeded  as  mayor  by  WilHani 
Gondemer,  a  Colombine.  In  1244  he  gave  place  to  Peter  Calhau 
and  he  in  turn  to  \Mlliam  Raymond  Colom  in  1246.  Thus,  not  only 
did  a  Colombine  come  to  power  in  1243,  but  the  city  remained  under 
their  control  for  the  next  four  years.  Did  the  king  have  a  hand  in 
this  change  ?  He  had  every  opportunity  to  exert  an  influence  on  the 
election  for  he  was  at  Bordeaux  from  the  first  to  the  twenty-fifth  of 
the  month.  Although  the  evidence  is  purely  circumstancial,  one  can 
hardly  help  suspecting  that  the  royal  influence  played  a  considerable 
part  in  this  change  in  party  power,  and  that  the  liberality  of  the 
Coloms  was,  in  part  at  least,  intended  to  gain  this  influence.  Cer- 
tainly one  act  of  the  king  is  calculated  to  support  such  an  impression. 
On  April  21  Henry  addressed  a  letter  to  the  citizens  of  La  Reole 
and  Langon,  forbidding  them  to  come  to  Bordeaux  for  the  purpose 
of  aiding  any  party  there  in  the  factional  disputes  (ad  succursum 
faciendum  aliciii  de  civihus  hurdigalcnsibus  contentionem  habentv 
contra  aliiiDi  in  eadem  znlla).'^'"  If  Henry,  who  wrote  this  letter 
from  Bordeaux,  was  striving  to  arrange  in  advance  the  triumph  of 
the  Colombines  he  might  not  unnaturally  strive  to  prevent  the  Solers 
from  calling  in  allies  from  the  neighboring  towns.  At  any  rate,  he 
clearly  desired  to  prevent  one  party  from  using  this  means  to  defeat 
the  other.  And  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  riot  of  June  28, 
1249,  some  of  the  most  influential  citizens  of  La  Reole  were  found 
fighting  among  the  partisans  of  the  Solers.^*'  The  king,  it  would  ap- 
pear, did  not  go  so  far  as  to  drive  the  Solers  entirely  from  power  but, 
if  we  may  trust  a  later  declaration,  he  proposed,  or  perhaps  imposed, 
a  compromise  by  which  each  party  was  to  have  half  the  jurats." 

"  Shirley's  list  of  seneschals. 
"'R.  G.,  137S. 

'°  Bemont,  Simon  de  Monffort,  31. 
*'  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  89. 


gS  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

Nevertheless,  the  Colombines  held  the  office  of  mayor  for  several 
years,  which  would  seem  to  indicate  that  they  had  the  larger  half. 

Though  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux  advanced  money  to  the  king 
they  took  good  care  to  secure  its  repayment,  and  Henry  was  forced 
to  give  good  security  by  pawning  certain  of  the  royal  revenues.  We 
have  seen  that  Gaillard  Colom  received  in  part  payment  of  his  ad- 
vances the  royal  profit  (qiicstam)  from  the  king's  landes  of  Bord- 
eaux.''^ The  king  likewise  committed  to  him  the  entire  rent  of  the 
city  of  Bordeaux  in  part  payment  of  a  debt.^**  This  was  in  August. 
On  September  26  the  king  issued  orders  to  the  priid'hommes  of  a 
number  of  small  villages  to  pay  their  dues  to  the  bishop  of  Dax,  and 
he  in  turn  was  directed  to  use  them  in  paying  part  of  a  debt  to  Gail- 
lard, though  the  amount  is  not  stated.'^  In  addition  the  king  farmed 
the  provostship  of  Bordeaux  for  one  year  to  William  Raymond 
Colom  for  35  pounds  of  Bordeaux.'^^ 

The  financial  needs  of  the  king  did  not  cease  with  the  war.  He 
remained  in  Gascony  during  the  greater  part  of  the  next  year  (1243). 
Matthew  Paris  charges  him  with  squandering  his  money  in  useless 
luxury.^^  No  doubt  there  was  some  justice  in  the  accusation;  but 
Henry  had  good  excuse  for  some  of  his  expenditure.  During  the 
early  months  of  the  year,  when  war  might  be  renewed  at  any  time, 
it  was  necessary  to  keep  the  province  on  some  sort  of  a  war  footing. 
Then,  no  doubt,  he  had  many  debts  to  pay  which  had  been  contracted 
during  the  war  and  which  he  could  only  meet  by  new  debts.  At  any 
rate,  for  whatever  purpose,  he  spent  all  the  money  he  could  get  from 
England  and  then  had  recourse  to  his  loyal  subjects  of  Bordeaux. 
The  Gascon  Rolls  for  this  year,  as  for  the  last,  are  thickly  strewn 
with  acknowledgments  of  debt. 

^R.  G.,  40s.  Pat.  Rolls,  319. 
"  R.  G.,  352.  Pat.  Rolls,  314. 
'"i?.  G.,  485.  .Pat.  Rolls,  327. 
"  7?.  G.,  406.  Pat.  Rolls.  319. 
"  Chronica  Majora,  IV,  229. 


HBNRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION  99 

The  purposes  for  which  Henry  now  borrows  of  the  citizens  seem 
much  the  same  as  in  1242.  Some  of  the  loans  were  contracted  to 
pay  salaries  or  money  fiefs,  others  for  articles  of  luxury,  and  others 
for  purposes  not  specified. 

As  examples  of  debts  of  the  first  sort  we  have  a  loan  of  60  marks 
sterling  from  Peter  Calhau,  which  sum  had  been  paid  to  Chiwardo 
de  Chaboneis  on  the  fief  of  100  marks."^  Again,  on  April  25,  Henry 
orders  his  treasurer  to  pay  over  to  Raymond  Makayn  lOO  marks, 
which  sum  Raymond  had  paid  to  Peter  Chaceporc — a  clerk  of  the 
king — and  which  the  king  had  conceded  to  Peter  as  a  gift."* 

Of  debts  contracted  for  wine  or  articles  of  luxury  there  are  a 
considerable  number.  On  January  13,  by  an  order  to  his  baillifs  we 
learn  that  the  king  purchased  of  two  Bordelais  citizens  a  shipload 
of  wine  amounting  to  320  tuns.'-'^  On  February  ii  he  purchased 
30  tuns  from  W.  R.  Colom  at  a  cost  of  105  pounds  of  Bordeaux.^*' 
On  February  8  he  owed  270  pounds  sterling  for  302  tuns  bought  of 
William  Sycard  and  Arnold  Tuscanan.^^  On  January  29  he  owed 
Peter  and  Arnold  Calhau  270  pounds  for  302  tuns  of  wine.'®  In 
June  the  king  gave  his  bond  to  Arnold  Beraud  and  Gaillard  de  Lart 
for  263  pounds  10  shillings  which  they  have  advanced  to  the  king's 
tailor  for  the  purchase  of  silk  cloths  and  sendal  at  the  fair  at  Pro- 
vins."^  Later  the  king  not  only  paid  this  bond — in  June®'' — but  in 
October  he  paid  Arnold  Beraud  210  pounds  10  shillings  which  he 
had  advanced  for  a  similar  purpose.®^ 

These  entries  nearly  exhaust  the  direct  information  which  the 

"i?.  G.,S95.    Pat.  Rolls.  368. 

''R.  G.,  1766. 

'^R.  G.,  761.   .Pat.  Rolls,  356. 

"^  R.  G.,  837.    Pat.  Rolls,  363,  where  the  cost  given  is  no  pounds. 

''R.G.,833.    Pat.  Rolls,  362. 

"i?.  G.,  1677. 

"R.  G.,  906.    Pat.  Rolls,  378. 

'"R.  G.,  1797. 

^^R.  G.,  2032. 


lOO 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


Rolls  furnish  us  concerning"  the  purposes  for  which  the  king  bor- 
rowed money.  One  other  purpose  we  may  perhaps  infer  as  possible. 
Since,  frequently,  the  money  is  lent  in  Gascony  and  orders  are 
issued  for  its  payment  in  England,  it  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
loans  were  simply  to  save  the  trouble  of  the  transportation  of  the 
money  to  Gascony.  In  many  cases  it  is  evident  that  the  king  is  sim- 
ply borrowing  money  till  his  treasure  can  reach  him.  Again  and 
again  it  is  specified  that  he  will  pay  these  debts  upon  a  certain  date 
or  sooner  if  the  money  arrives  from  England.  Often,  then,  these 
loans  were  due  simply  to  the  clumsiness  of  the  transportation  system 
and  to  the  delays  wdiich  resulted  therefrom.  The  king  had  treasure 
in  England,  but  it  was  a  dangerous  thing  to  transport.  Boats  and 
men  had  to  be  got  ready  and  possibly  the  winds  were  unfavorable. 
Hence,  some  days,  perhaps  weeks,  elapsed — and  the  king  borrowed 
money  until  it  arrived.  For  example,  on  June  i8,  the  king  promised 
to  pay  W.  R.  Colom  5,000  soUdi  of  Bordeaux  received  from  him 
as  a  loan.^-  The  money  was  to  be  paid  one  month  after  midsummer, 
or  sooner  if  money  arrives  from  England  before  that  date.  This  is  an 
instance  taken  at  random.  Other  similar  instances  are  numerous. 
But  suppose  the  man  who  lent  the  money  was  either  going  to 
England  or  had  an  agent  there.  Why  not  avoid  the  difficulty  and 
danger  of  transportation  by  having  the  debt  paid  in  England? 
The  merchant  or  his  agent  could  then  use  the  money  for  the  pur- 
chase of  goods  to  be  taken  to  Bordeaux  and  sold.  In  this  way  the 
king  orders  debts  paid  to  Gaillard  Colom,^^  Peter  Calhau^*  and  his 
brother,  and  Raymond  Makayn.*^ 

Turning  now  to  those  who  were  creditors  of  Henry,  we  find  the 
same  set  of  men  as  in  the  previous  year.     In  the  first  rank  come  the 

^■R.  G.,  1020.    Pat.  Rolls,  381. 

^R.  G.,  1812,  1945. 

'*R.  G.,  1466,  1677. 

""R.  G.,  1668,  1886. 


HEXRY'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION 


lOI 


Coloms.  Gaillard  advanced  considerable  sums  to  the  king,  first  420 
marks,  8  shillings,  11  pence;  then,  apparently,  402  marks.®®  William 
Raymond  advanced  the  5,000  solidi  already  mentioned  and  smaller 
sums.  Both  the  Calhau  advanced  money.  At  one  time  the  king  owed 
them  270  pounds  sterling  for  wine.*'  At  another  they  and  two  other 
merchants  received  an  order  on  the  English  treasurer  for  540  pounds 
sterling  for  wine.^^^  Raymond  Makayn  had  also  extensive  financial 
dealings  with  Henry.  In  January  he  received  a  bond  and  an  order 
on  the  English  exchequer  for  435  marks  and  another  bond  for  200 
marks.  In  August  he  was  given  a  bond  for  460  marks  and  in  Septem- 
ber an  order  on  the  treasury  for  that  amount.*''  Arnold  Maysent, 
whose  wine  was  seized  for  Dover  Castle  the  year  before,  now  lent 
the  king  various  sums,  once  1,000  marks,  to  be  paid  when  money 
came  from  England,^*'  at  another  time  on  the  same  terms  1,000 
pounds  of  Bordeaux.''^  These  are  illustrations.  There  are  other 
debts  to  other  merchants  but  the  larger  part  of  the  money  was  ad- 
vanced by  merchants  connected  with  the  wine  trade,  and  it  would 
appear  also  that  the  larger  part  both  of  the  money  and  the  wine  was 
furnished  by  members  of  the  Colombine  party,  now  in  power;  Faure, 
Mercato  and  Lambert,  all  Solers,  did  indeed  advance  money,  but 
much  less  than  the  Coloms,  Calhau  and  Makayn.^-  Another  rather 
suggestive  point  is  that  none  of  the  men  certainly  belonging  to  the 
vSoler  party  advanced  more  money  after  April,  in  which  month  the 
Colombines  came  to  power  in  the  commune.     The  largest  loan  from 

'"  R.  G.,  739,  1812.    Pat.  Rolls,  354. 

*'i?.  G.,  1677.  Among  the  smaller  loans  is  one  of  250  pounds  of  Bor- 
deaux.   R.  G.,  832.    Pat.  Rolls,  362. 

""R.  G.  1466. 

'"R.  G.,  77S,  776,  1103,  1668,  1886.      Pat.  Rolls,  357,  389. 

""i?.  G.,804.    Pat.  Rolls,  ^60. 

""■R.  G.,  1109.    Pat.  Rolls,  390. 

"^  Maysent  indeed  advanced  considerable  sums.  He  may  have  been  a 
Soler  but  he  was  certainly  a  wine  merchant,  which  perhaps  explains  his 
attitude.     The  ground  for  regarding  him  as  a  Soler  is  the  presence  in  that 


I02 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


their  party,  that  from  Martin  Faure  of  5,000  solid'i,  was  acknowl- 
edged January  31,  1243.^^  Their  loyal  generosity  could  not,  it  would 
seem,  survive  their  fall  from  power  at  Bordeaux, 

The  townspeople,  then,  during  and  after  Henry's  campaign  of 
1242,  were  of  large  importance  to  the  king.  It  is  clear  that  he  relied 
upon  them  both  for  military  service  and  for  money  and  for  the  latter 
very  extensively. 

party  during  Simon  de  Montfort's  administration  of  a  certain  Ernaldus 
Maysenge  and  a  certain  Ernaldus  Maisenne,  seemingly  two  different  persons. 
One  or  the  other  may  be  Maysent;  for  the  proper  names  of  the  time  show 
great  variations  in  spelling.  The  identification  seems  at  best  doubtful,  and 
Maysent  may  well  have  been  a  Colombine  or  a  neutral.  See  Royal  Letters, 
II,  388-9,  and  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  284-295.  An  Arnold  Maynsani 
also  appears  in  the  Patent  Rolls,  1247-1258,  608,  and  seems  to  be  a  Soler. 
^R.  G.,  810.    Pat.  Rolls,  361. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MUNICIPAL  CHANGES  AT  DAX  AND  BAYONNE,  1243 

Henry  makes  a  tour  of  the  south.  Measures  at  Bayonne.  Names  the  hundred 
peers.  Reasons  for  this  step.  Reorganizes  the  commune  at  Dax.  Char- 
acter and  causes  of  this  measure. 

Henry's  conduct  in  remaining  on  the  continent  over  four  months 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  war  was  not,  as  it  seems  to  have  struck 
Matthew  Paris/  due  merely  to  idleness  and  luxury.  On  the  con- 
trary he  used  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  him  to  attempt  a  reor- 
ganization of  the  southern  towns.  Though  Trubleville  may  have 
succeeded  in  preserving  some  sort  of  order  in  Gascony,  yet  the 
elements  of  discord  were  numerous  and  were  perhaps  increasing,  for 
the  time  of  Henry's  campaign  was  marked  by  disorders  in  Dax  too 
serious  to  be  ignored.  To  settle  these  troubles  Henry  made  a  tour 
of  the  south  and  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  overhaul  the 
municipal  machinery  at  both  Dax  and  Bayonne. 

The  party  divisions  existing  at  Bayonne  we  have  already  sur- 
veyed in  connection  with  the  troubles  arising  from  the  organization 
of  a  confraternity  in  that  city.  This  confraternity,  it  will  be  recalled, 
Henry  had  forbidden  and  had  ordered  dissolved.-  It  would  seem, 
however,  that  these  orders  had  never  been  entirely  enforced.  The 
chief   officer    of   the    confraternity    was    the    capdel.     This   officer 

^Chronica  Majora,  IV,  229. 
^  See  chapter  iv. 


I04  UN  GUSH  RULE  IN  GASCON  Y 

had  remained,  apparently  as  a  regular  officer,  from  1227  till  this 
time.^  This  suggests  that  the  commune  had  been  forced  to  make 
some  sort  of  terms  with  the  confraternity  and  that  the  riots  had 
ended  in  a  compromise.  Henry,  on  his  arrival  in  the  town,  renewed 
his  former  prohibitions  against  confraternities'*  and  appears  also  to 
have  suppressed  the  capdel,  who  at  any  rate  ceases  to  appear.^ 

One  of  the  most  essential  wheels  in  communal  mechanism, 
according  to  the  Etahlissements  de  Rouen,  was  a  body  known  as 
the  hundred  peers.  Henry,  during  his  stay  in  Bayonne,  took  occas- 
ion to  nominate  the  members  of  this  body  and  to  confirm  their  title 
by  letters  patent  containing  a  list  of  their  names.  From  this  fact 
Giry  concludes  that  the  £tablisscniciits,  although  granted  in  1215,  by 
John,  had  never  been  really  in  operation."  But,  as  we  have  seen  the 
machinery  provided  for  the  nomination  of  the  mayor  actually  in 
force  in  1228^  there  seems  no  sufficient  reason  for  such  a  conclusion. 
It  would  seem  more  probable  that  the  confraternity  troubles  had 
thrown  the  communal  machinery  into  some  disorder,  and  there  were 
evidently  troubles  of  some  sort  in  the  city  about  the  time  of  the 
nomination  of  the  peers.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  though 
Henry  chose  as  mayor  from  the  list  presented  a  certain  Bernard  de 
IJposse  for  the  year  1243,^  yet  in  July  of  that  year  we  find  him  refer- 
red to  as  ''sometime  mayor"  of  Bayonne  and  his  property  as  well  as 
that  of  the  capdel  sequestered.^    We  learn,  further,  that  the  capdel 

^  Bemont  in  his  introduction  to  the  Roles  Gascons,  l",  civ.  See  also 
R.  G.  28,  820,  1068,  1071,  1612  and  Pat.  Rolls,  361,  386,  where  the  capdel  is 
spoken  of  as  an  ordinary  officer. 

*R.  G.,  1214.    Pat.  Rolls,  403. 

"  Bemont,  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Roles  Gascons,  P,  cv. 

'  Giry,  Rtablissements,  I,  108. 

■^  Close  RolL;  1227-1231,  98. 

^R.  G.,  806.    Pat.  Rolls,  360. 

^  R.  G.,  1071,  1073.  Pat.  Rolls,  386.  The  capdel  is  cited  to  appear  before 
the  king  in  May.    R.  G.,  1612. 


CHANGES  AT  DAX  AXD  BAYONNB 


105 


had  extorted  money  from  a  canon  of  the  city.^°  The  mayor,  what- 
ever his  offense,  received  a  partial  pardon  in  1244^^  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  was  entirely  reinstated  in  the  commime.^-  These  events  indi- 
cate clearly  that  there  had  been  troubles  of  some  sort  in  the  commune 
and  the  nomination  of  the  peers  may  well  have  been  a  measure  of 
pacification.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  nomination  would  be 
intended  either  to  fix  definitely  the  membership  of  that  body,  or  to 
change  somewhat  its  composition.  Possibly  it  did  both,  since  fixation 
itself  might  well  mean  some  modification.  Though  we  cannot  feel 
absolutely  certain,  still  it  seems  highly  probable  that  the  new  arrange- 
ment was  distinctly  favorable  to  the  "aristocratic"  party.  This 
party  had  as  its  leader  Michael  de  Mans,  while  Dardir  was  at  the 
head  of  the  other. 

Michael  was  one  of  those  expelled  by  the  confraternity  in  1228, 
and  with  him — hence  doubtless  of  his  party — were  R.  W.  de  Mente 
and  Laurentius  de  Puyane."  In  1273,  when  a  truce  wms  arranged 
between  the  two  factions,  we  find  enumerated  as  leaders  of  the  Mans 
party,  A.  R.  de  Pins,  W.  A.  de  Saubaignac,  and  Martin  de  Saint 
Jean ;  as  leaders  of  the  Dardir  party  are  Dardir  himself,  Bernard  de 
Meis  and  P.  A.  de  Viele.^*  Now  thirty  years  are  an  ample  time  for 
men  to  have  changed  sides ;  but,  if  we  assume  that  these  lists  repre- 
sent permanent  affiliations,  w^e  should  have  as  members  of  the  Mans 
faction  besides  Michael  himself,  the  families  of  Menta,  Puyane,  Pins, 
Saubaignac  and  St.  Jean.  On  the  other  side  would  stand  the  Dardir, 
the  Viele  and  the  Meis.  Turning  now  to  the  names  of  the  hundred 
peers,^^  we  find  that  the  name  of  Michael  de  Mans  heads  the  list, 
which  also  contains  the  names  oi  P.  A.  de  Menta,  Laurens  de  Pinana. 

'"Ibid. 

'^Pat.  Rolls,  431. 

^'Ibid.,  468. 

^^  Pat.  Rolls,  1225-1232,  192. 

"  Delpit,  Notice  d'lin  Manuscrit,  120-122,. 

^'R.  G.,  1215.    Pat.  Rolls,  403. 


io6  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

B.  dc  St.  Jean,  G.  A.  Dcxis  Pis,  P.  dc  Pyane  and  P.  de  Sanhanac. 
Though  the  identification  of  some  of  these  names  may  seem  uncer- 
tain, yet  it  would  certainly  appear  that  the  faction  of  Michael  de 
Mans  was  well  represented.  On  the  other  side  none  of  the  Dardir 
is  to  be  found  and  only  one  of  the  Viele,  namely,  W.  de  Viele. 
Peter  de  Rosset,  one  of  the  popular  leaders  (at  least  in  1251)^^  is 
however  included.  From  this  we  might  infer  that  Henry  was  follow- 
ing the  policy  of  Trubleville  and  strengthening  the  position  of  the 
■"aristocractic"  faction.  His  suppression  of  the  confraternity — and 
as  we  shall  see  his  policy  at  Dax — would  seem  to  point  in  the  same 
direction.  Possibly  he  aimed  in  Bayonne  as  in  Bordeaux  at  a  com- 
promise which  would  leave  both  represented,  and  if,  as  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  capdel  might  suggest,  the  popular  party  had  been  im- 
plicated in  recent  troubles,  the  omission  of  some  of  their  leaders 
w^ould  not  be  surprising.  We  have  seen  no  reason  to  think  that  the 
elements  dominant  in  the  commune  had  been  actively  disloyal,  so 
that  Henry  probably  had  little  reason  for  seeking  to  bring  about 
a  communal  revolution,  but  would  be  more  likely  to  aim  simply  at 
preserving  the  peace  both  within  the  town  and  between  the  town  and 
the  nobles.  This  latter  object  might  seem  to  be  best  secured  by 
predominance  of  the  aristocratic  party. 

Henry  used  his  tour  in  the  south  not  only  to  effect  a  settlement 
in  Bayonne  but  also  to  make  certain  changes  in  Dax,  to  which  we 
must  now  turn  our  attention.  Dax,  as  we  have  seen,  had  long  been 
in  possession  of  a  commune.  Up  to  this  time  there  do  not  seem  to 
have  developed  clearly  marked  dififerences  of  party  within  the 
commune  itself,  but  there  were  abundant  elements  of  discord  in 
the  town.  In  1242  the  town  was  the  scene  of  grave  confusion,  owing 
to  violent  disputes  between  the  citizens  and  the  bishop,  in  which  the 
king  was  forced  to  intervene.    Partly  for  the  settlement  of  this  mat- 

"  Giry,  ^tahlissements,  I,  no. 


CHANGES  AT  DAX  AND  BAYONNB 


107 


ter  the  king  stopped  at  Dax  on  his  way  to  Bayonne,  and,  when  he 
had  returned  to  Bordeaux  from  the  latter  city,  he  carried  through  a 
reorganization  of  the  municipal  government.  The  government  of 
the  commune  had  hitherto  been  vested  in  a  capdel  and  twenty 
justiciars.  This  organization  the  king  now  abolished,  and  substi- 
tuted one  with  a  mayor  and  twenty  jurats.^^  In  the  charter  by  which 
he  made  this  change  he  expressly  provided  that  he  should  retain  the 
right  to  withdraw  this  new  organization  at  any  time,  and  that  if  he 
did  so  the  old  system  should,  ipso  facto,  be  restored.  This  last 
provision  is  not  a  mere  phrase,  as  we  might  at  first  suppose.  It  is 
found  not  only  in  the  charter  granted  by  the  king,  but  also  in  the 
charter  issued  by  the  newly  created  mayor  and  jurats  setting  forth 
the  financial  arrangements  which  they  had  made  with  the  king.^^ 
Even  more  important,  the  clause  is  repeated  in  a  confirmation  by 
Edward  I  in  1278,  and  is  there  amplified  by  a  statement  of  the  nature 
of  this  earlier  organization.^®  Hence,  it  appears  that  this  provision 
must  have  possessed  some  importance  in  the  royal  mind. 

What,  then,  was  the  significance  of  the  change?  Or,  to  make 
the  question  more  concrete,  how  did  the  mayor  and  twenty  jurats 
differ  from  the  capdel  and  twenty  justiciars?  Abbadie  conjectures-'^ — 
what  indeed  seems  practically  certain — that  the  real  change  lay 
in  the  method  of  electing  the  mayor  and  jurats.  The  election  of 
the  jurats  is  not  elaborated  in  the  charter  itself,  but  in  the  explanation 
which  the  new  officers  made  to  the  burghers  it  is  set  forth  with 
sufficient  clearness.-^  The  twenty  jurats  at  the  end  of  the  year  were 
to  name  their  successors,  and  the  new  jurats  were  then  to  propose 

"  Le  Livre  noir,  229.    Pat.  Rolls,  406. 
"L^  Livre  noir,  159. 

"Ibid.,  187.     T'he  charter  of  Edward  is  contained  in  a  vidimus  and  con- 
firmation by  Philip  IV  in  1295. 
""Ibid.,  xxviii. 
""Ibid.,  159- 


io8  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

three  candidates  from  whom  the  king's  seneschal  was  to  choose  the 
new  mayor.  If  the  capdel  was  an  official  elected  by  the  commune, 
as  his  association  with  the  citizens  in  their  contest  with  the  knights 
would  suggest,  the  change  as  to  the  mayor  would  be  a  concession  to 
the  king.  In  which  case,  why  should  he  so  carefully  reserve  the 
right  to  withdraw  the  new  arrangements  ?  The  change  to  rnayor  and 
jurats  does  not,  moreover,  stand  alone.  As  soon  as  it  was  made  the 
new  magistrates  concluded  an  accord  with  the  king  concerning  the  dues 
to  be  collected  by  his  viguier  in  the  town.--  On  the  whole,  these  ar- 
rangements seem  rather  favorable  to  the  royal  interests  and  have 
somewhat  the  appearance  of  concessions  by  the  townspeople.  These 
considerations  would  seem  to  suggest  that  the  jurats  were  the  prin- 
cipal point  in  view  in  the  changes.  Obviously  the  jurats  would 
constitute  a  communal  oligarchy.  May  not  a  certain  party  have 
so  far  desired  this  as  to  make  such  concessions  in  the  election  of  the 
mayor  and  financial  matters  as  to  secure  it  ? 

The  events  in  Dax  just  previous  to  the  granting  of  the  new 
constitution  may  help  to  explain  its  purpose.  The  town,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  been  torn  by  furious  disputes  between  the  commune  and 
the  bishop.  This  struggle  had  arisen  out  of  a  quarrel  over  juris- 
diction and  had  been  extremely  bitter.  The  bishop  and  chapter 
excommunicated  the  citizens  and  placed  Dax  under  an  interdict. 
Certain  priests,  however,  refused  to  obey  the  interdict  and  a  petty 
schism  was  thus  created.  Violence  was  resorted  to  on  both  sides, 
and  the  king,  who  was  forced  to  intervene,  had  considerable  difficulty 
in  effecting  a  settlement.-^  Apparently  as  a  result  of  this  struggle, 
certainly  while  it  was  in  progress,  the  commune  became  involved  in  a 
quarrel  with  the  knights,  who  refused  to  plead  before  the  capdel  and 
justiciars.     From  these  two  struggles  we  may  perhaps  safely  con- 

^'  Ibid. 

^^  Ibid.,  xxxii,  207,  396.  Also  R.  G.,  590,  952,  1196,  1201,  1591.  Pat.  Rolls, 
337,  374,  399- 


CHANGES  AT  DAX  AND  BAYONNE 


109 


elude  that  there  were  in  Dax  two  parties,  one  made  up  of  the  clergy 
and  the  knights,  the  other  of  the  burghers.  Did  the  division  strike 
into  the  commune  itself?  We  cannot  say  with  certainty,  but  it  is 
suggestive  that  five  knights,  who  came  forward  as  fidejussors  of  the 
bishop  and  chapter,  style  themselves  civesr'^  From  this  it  would, 
perhaps,  be  rash  to  conclude  that  they  were  members  of  the  commune, 
though  this  impression  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  one  of  them 
is,  apparently,  the  first  mayor  of  Dax."*'  These  facts,  in  any  case, 
stand  out  as  fairly  clear.  At  first  the  coinmune  refused  the  arbitra- 
tion of  the  king  and  seneschal  in  the  difficulty  with  the  bishop,  then 
it  submits,  perhaps  is  forced  to  submit.  Following  this  Henry  in- 
troduced a  new  constitution,  and  a  man  apparently  associated  with  the 
episcopal  party  becomes  mayor.  Earlier — at  the  end  of  1242 — Henry 
had  intervened  to  protect  the  knights  against  the  capdel  and  bur- 
ghers."" These  facts  w'ould  seem  to  indicate  the  presence  of  two 
parties  in  the  commune,  one  of  which  probably  included  some  of  the 
knights  and  was  more  favorable  to  the  church  than  the  other. 
Henry  intervened  in  the  interests  of  peace  and  supported  that  party 
most  ready  to  come  to  terms.  To  secure  peace  in  the  town  he 
introduced  certain  changes  into  the  communal  institutions,  changes 
designed  to  increase  the  royal  control  but  also  to  place  permanently 
in  power  such  members  of  the  commune  as  seemed  most  disposed  to 
maintain  peaceful  relations  with  the  neighboring  seigneurs,  principally 
the  bishop.  He  did  not,  however,  wish  to  establish  such  persons  in 
power  too  securely,  and  therefore  reserved  to  himself  the  right  to 
withdraw  the  new  institutions  whenever  he  might  choose. 

■'R.  G.,  1291. 

^^  Le  Livre  noir,  297.  A  knight  is  also  among  the  citizens  swearing  to 
observe  tihe  compromise. 

■'The  name  of  the  fidejussor  is  given  as  Guilhermus  Lupi  de  Tilh.  Du- 
fourcet  (Bull,  de  la  Soc.  Borda,  I,  458)  gives  the  name  of  the  first  mayor  as 
Guilleume  de  TilJi. 

''R.  G.,  1291. 


no  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

When  these  arrangements  were  completed  Henry  might  feel  that 
he  had  done  for  the  time  being  all  that  could  be  done  to  secure  the 
tranquillity  of  Gascony.  In  the  south  he  had  settled  affairs  in  the 
chief  communes  and  placed  securely  in  power  parties  seemingly 
disposed  to  preserve  friendly  relations  with  the  seigneurs.  In 
Bordeaux  the  dominant  faction  was  strongly  attached  to  him  by 
business  interests  and  there  the  neighboring  barons  were  less  to  be 
considered.  That  the  good  order  of  the  province  was  precarious  he 
may  have  realized,  but  there  would  seem  to  be  little  more  that  he 
could  do  at  the  moment.  With  whatever  feelings,  whether  of  confi- 
dence or  anxiety,  he  returned  to  England  in  September,  leaving 
behind  him  Nicholas  de  Molis  as  seneschal. ^^ 

^  Pat.  Rolls,  380.  Shirley's  list  is  at  fault  by  a  year  here.  Molis  was  ap- 
pointed in  1243,  not  1244. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  DICTATORSHIP  OF  SIMON  DE  MONTFORT,  1248-1254 

Continued  disorder  in  Gascony.  Montfort  despatched  as  dictator.  Harsh 
conduct  toward  the  nobles.  Policy  toward  the  towns.  Character  of  the 
municipal  parties.  Montfort  supports  popular  party.  Riot  at  Bordeaux. 
Proscription  of  the  Solers.  Policy  in  other  towns.  Revolts  of  nobles 
and  proscribed  burghers.  Complaints  to  Henry.  Henry  abandons  Mont- 
fort. Renewed  pretensions  of  Castile.  Anarchy  in  Gascony  following 
Montfort's  removal. 

During  the  five  years  following  Henry's  return  to  England  Gas- 
cony drifted  steadily  toward  anarchy.  The  king  sought,  indeed,  to 
strengthen  his  representative  by  promising  Nicholas  de  Molis,  when 
he  was  named  as  seneschal,  an  annual  sum  of  1,000  marks  for  govern- 
mental purposes  and  500  marks  for  personal  use.^  Yet  the  prospect 
was  so  little  encouraging  that  before  Henry  sailed  the  seneschal 
obtained  a  promise  that  at  the  end  of  one  year  he  might  resign  his 
office  if  he  chose.^ 

Although  the  seneschal  actually  remained  in  office  some  two  years, 
the  time  was  far  from  a  quiet  one  for  the  province  which  he  governed. 
The  troubled  condition  of  Gascony  is  reflected  in  the  zeal  with  which 
the  king  helped  the  towns  to  construct  and  strengthen  their  walls. 
He  released  the  citizens  of  Bayonne  from  320  marks  of  a  sum  of  500 
marks  which  they  had  promised  him  and  directed  them  to  apply  the 

'  Pat.  Rolls,  382. 
=  Ibid.,  396. 


112 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


money  to  walling  their  city.^  He  also  granted  them  300  marks  from 
the  exchequer  for  that  purpose.*  He  directed  the  seneschal  to  let 
the  mayor  and  commune  of  Bordeaux  have  1,000  pounds  of  Tours  for 
the  walling  of  their  city.^  Later  in  the  year  both  Bayonne  and  Dax 
received  the  royal  bond  for  100  pounds  each  for  the  same  purpose.'' 
The  seneschal  is  likewise  given  a  letter  of  credit  for  500  marks  for 
fortifying  the  castle  of  La  Reole.  In  addition  he  received  a  letter 
of  credit  authorizing  him  to  contract  a  loan  of  500  marks  to  be  used 
solely  for  the  defense  of  Gascony.  Afterwards  three  pairs  of  like 
letters  were  given  him,  and  then  still  others.'^ 

Of  the  troubles  which  gave  rise  to  these  measures  a  war  with 
Navarre  was  the  chief. ^  In  this  the  men  of  Bayonne  lent  loyal  aid 
and  the  king  accepted  as  a  loan  1,000  marks  which  they  obtained  from 
the  seizure  of  such  goods  of  men  of  Navarre  as  they  found  within 
reach.  In  accepting  the  loan  the  king  promised  to  be  responsible 
for  any  future  restitution.  In  the  towns  themselves  there  were  also 
troubles.  At  Bayonne  the  seneschal  named  as  mayor,  in  defiance  of 
the  Etahlisscmcnts,  Peter  de  Rosset,  of  the  popular  party,"  and  the 
former  mayor,  Bernard  de  Liposse,  received  a  pardon.^''  When 
difficulties  with  France  required  arbitration  the  arbitrator  first 
chosen,  the  count  of  Bigorre,  could  not  act  because  of  war  and  the 
mayor  of  Bordeaux  was  substituted.^^ 

Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  not  surprising  that,  in  July  of 
1245,  Nicholas  de  Molis  laid  down  his  office."    The  king  appointed 

*  Ibid.,  422. 

*  Ibid.,  423. 
=  Ibid.,  436. 

*  Ibid.,  445. 
''Ibid.,  422. 
''Ibid.,  434,  445- 

*  Balasque,  Etudes,  II,  99. 

^°  Pat.  Rolls,  431.     A  full  pardon  was  given  later.     Ibid.,  468. 
''Ibid.,  434- 
''Ibid.,  457. 


SIMON  DE  MONTFORT 


"3 


William  de  Boell  to  take  his  place.^^  The  new  seneschal,  who  re- 
mained in  office  over  two  years,  followed  his  predecessor's  example 
at  Bayonne,  where  he  named  John  Dardir  as  mayor.^*  x\t  Bordeaux 
the  Colombines  remained  in  power  for  the  entire  time.  Grants  on 
a  smaller  scale  occur  for  fortifying  the  towns  and  Bordeaux  received 
a  gift  of  500  marks,  with  a  promise  of  as  much  more.^^  There  were 
also  some  debts  to  citizens  both  under  Boell  and  Molis,^''  especially 
to  Raymond  Makayn.^'  The  king  likewise  intervened  in  a  dispute 
between  Rustengo  de  Soler  and  the  commune  over  the  height  of  one 
of  his  houses  in  the  city.^® 

In  November  of  1247  Boell  was  superseded  by  Drogo  de  Baren- 
tyn.^^  He,  however,  remained  in  office  less  than  a  year.  The  general 
condition  of  the  province  was  such  as  to  call  for  a  stronger  hand  than 
his.  During  his  administration,  or  the  latter  part  of  his  predecessor's, 
a  change  had  occurred  in  the  party  in  control  at  Bordeaux.  From 
1243  to  1247  the  mayors  belonged  to  the  Colombine  faction.  In  1247 
the  year  began  with  a  Colombine,  W.  Gondemer,  but  his  term  seems 
to  have  been  interrupted,  for  we  find  in  the  same  year  Peter  Bonafus 
of  the  opposite  party  in  office,  and  the  commune  remained  under 
the  control  of  the  Solers  for  the  next  two  years. 

These  data  from  the  rolls  do  not,  however,  give  an  adequate 
picture  of  the  general  state  of  the  country,  which  was  becoming  worse 
and  worse.  The  disorder  constantly  increased  and  matters  seemed 
fast  tending  toward  the  condition  of  the  early  years  of  the  reign. 
The  nobles  had  never  been  under  any  very  great  degree  of  control, 

"  Ibid. 

"  Balasque,  £fudes,  II,  99. 

^'Pat.  Rolls,  468,  506. 

^^  Ibid.,  431,  432,  471,  480,  500. 

^^  Ibid.,  453,  500. 

''Ibid.,  473. 

'^  Ibid.,  1247- 1258,  2. 


114 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


and  Henry's  repeated  failures  and  disasters  on  the  continent  had 
doubtless  much  diminished  whatever  awe  they  may  once  have  felt 
for  the  royal  powder.  They  waged  their  private  wars  in  entire  disre- 
gard of  the  seneschal,  who  found  himself  too  weak  to  control  them. 
Civil  strife  raged  in  most  of  the  cities  f^  Dax  was  being  plundered 
by  Gaston  of  Beam  ;the  viscounts  of  Gramont,  Soule  and  Tartas,  with 
the  help  of  the  Navarrese,  were  ravaging  the  region  of  the  Labour; 
Amauvin  de  Vayres  and  the  viscount  of  Fronsac  were  battling  for  the 
town  of  Blaye.-^  The  towns  themselves,  under  aristocratic  factions, 
were  impatient  of  royal  control.-"  The  agents  of  the  French  king 
circulated  through  the  country  and  claimants  for  the  duchy,  either 
in  whole  or  in  part,  arose  on  every  hand  to  threaten  the  Plantagenet 
supremacy  in  its  last  province.  Among  these  claimants  were  the 
count  of  Champagne  and  the  king  of  Navarre,  the  viscount  of  Beam, 
and  the  king  of  Castile,  while  behind  them  all,  as  an  ever  present 
threat,  stood  the  king  of  France.-^ 

With  this  spectacle  before  him  Henry  determined  on  vigorous 
measures.  Richard  de  Grey  was  sent  out  as  seneschal  and  charged 
to  restore  order.^*  He,  however,  soon  abandoned  the  post  and  the 
king  turned  to  Simon  de  Montfort.  Simon,  being  just  about  to  join 
St.  Louis  on  a  crusade,  was  most  reluctant  to  undertake  the  heavy 
task.  Finally,  however,  the  prayers  of  the  king  and  queen  prevailed 
and  he  yielded.  But  he  dictated  his  own  terms.  He  was  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  seven  years  and  was  to  be  left  w'holly  free  during  that 
time.  If  attacked  by  an  outside  power  he  was  to  have  prompt  help. 
Two  thousand  marks  were  to  be  given  him  at  the  start,  and  the  king- 
agreed  to  maintain  fifty  knights  in  his  service  for  one  year.-^    Mat- 

'°Tout,  in  Hunt  and  Poole,  Political  History  of  England,  III,  70. 
"■  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  21. 

"Davis,   England   under   Normans  and   Angcvins,   4,30.    and    Tout,    ibid^ 
=^  Tout,  ibid. 

"  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  22.    Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  9,  10.    The  terms 
of  the  appointment  are  an  indication  of  the  prevailing  anarchy. 
^'Bemont,  .Simon  de  Montfort,  22-23. 


SIMON  DE  MONT  FORT 


115 


thew  Paris  declares  that  in  entrusting  him  with  such  powers  the  king 
ordered,  persuaded  and  besought  him  to  treat  the  rebels  harshly  and 
sternly.-*'  Here,  then,  were  clearly  indicated  Simon's  policy  and  duty. 
He  was  a  dictator  sent  by  the  English  king  to  Gascony  to  establish 
order  with  a  high  hand,  by  crushing  and  punishing  the  nobles  who 
were  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  province.  Whether  or  not  this  was 
the  real  intention  of  the  king,  it  was  clearl}^  the  way  in  which  Simon 
interpreted  his  mission.  He  appears  to  have  considered  himself  sent 
to  subdue  a  rebellious  dependency,  and  to  have  thought  that  in  Gas- 
cony he  had  to  deal  with  traitors  and  rebels  who  possessed  no  rights 
which  he  was  bound  to  respect. 

And  yet,  if  we  examine  the  case  more  closely,  had  the  royal  pol- 
icy undergone  much  change?  Hitherto  we  have  seen  that  the  Eng- 
lish hold  on  Gascony  had  been  based  on  an  alliance  with  the  towns. 
We  have  found  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  nobles  were  particular- 
ly loyal  to  the  king.  It  was  the  towns,  not  the  barons,  that  had  re- 
sisted the  invasion  of  Alfonso  and  opposed  the  French.  It  was 
against  the  nobles  especially  that  Simon  seems  to  have  felt  himself 
sent.  How,  then,  would  he  be  disposed  to  deal  with  the  towns? 
The  question  was  no  longer  as  simple  as  in  the  early  days  of  Henr>''s 
reign,  for,  whereas  the  towns  had  then  appeared  as  united  corpora- 
tions they  were  now  divided  between  contending  parties.  If  Simon 
were  to  direct  his  chief  hostility  against  the  nobles,  we  should  a 
priori  expect  to  find  him  supporting  the  anti-baronial  party  in  the 
towns, — if,  as  we  surmised,  one  of  the  communal  factions  usually 
tended  to  a  closer  alliance  with  the  surrounding  seigneurs  than  the 
other.    As  we  shall  see,  this  result  soon  followed. 

Appointed  on  May  i,  1248,-"  Simon  did  not  arrive  in  Gascony 
till  the  autumn.    In  September  Drogo  de  Barentyn  was  ordered  to 

^°  Chronica  Majora,  V,  293. 

"  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  264. 


ii6  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

turn  over  the  province.-^  (Grey,  it  would  seem,  had  not  taken  pos- 
session.) When  the  earl  arrived  at  Bordeaux  he  found  that  the  two 
factions  had  patched  up  a  truce,  and,  therefore,  he  began  his  rule  by 
assuming  an  attitude  of  neutrality.  The  Solers,  it  will  be  recalled, 
were  dominant  in  the  commune,  and  by  the  election  for  1249  of  Mar- 
tin Faure  as  mayor  they  retained  their  supremacy.-^  Simon  admitted 
to  his  counsels  men  of  both  parties  but  began  to  allow  his  preference 
for  the  Colombines  to  appear.^"  If  we  may  trust  the  testimony  of 
the  Solers  themselves  the  commune  under  their  control  was  at  peace 
with  all  the  neighboring  feudal  lords. ^^  This  in  itself  might  explain 
Simon's  hostility. 

For  purposes  of  feudal  justice  Gascony  was  divided  into  four 
circuits  having  as  their  centers  Bordeaux,  Bazas,  St.  Sever  and  Dax. 
The  new  seneschal  made  a  rapid  tour  of  these  places,  holding  his 
court  in  each  with  a  sufficient  military  backing  to  secure  not  only 
verdicts  but  their  execution.^-  His  dealings  with  the  nobles  whom  he 
summoned  before  his  court  we  have  no  need  to  consider  in  detail. 
Enough  that  he  proceeded  against  them  sternly  and  with  a  contempt 
for  legal  forms  that  boded  ill  for  the  future.  At  his  courts  he  seized, 
without  judgment  or  trial,  some  of  the  seigneurs  who  had  been  a 
source  of  trouble  in  times  past  and  cast  them  into  prison.  Others  he 
compelled  to  surrender  to  him  their  fortresses. ^^  This  stern  policy 
could  not  fail  to  cause  disquiet,  the  more  so  as  the  earl  seems  to  have 
acted  with  an  arbitrary  disregard  of  forms.  This  could  hardly  fail 
to  trouble  even  the  law-abiding.  Very  likely  those  seigneurs  whom 
Simon  treated  harshly  deserved  whatever  they  received  at  his  hands ; 
but,  if  the  viscount  of  Gramont  could  be  flung  into  a  dungeon  with- 

"^  Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  27. 

°°  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  23.     Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  23. 

^°  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  23. 

^^  Ibid.,  297. 

'"  Ibid.,  23-24. 

''  Ibid.,  24. 


SIMON  DB  MONTFORT 


117 


out  even  being  brought  before  a  judge,^*  what  security  had  an}-one 
that  any  rights  or  privileges  would  be  respected  if  he  hampered  in 
any  wise  the  action  of  the  stern  seneschal? 

Such  a  beginning  may  have  provoked  alarm  among  the  towns- 
people, but  Simon  gave  them  other  causes  of  complaint.  Some 
of  the  citizens  were  treated  no  less  arbitrarily  than  the  seigneurs.^^ 
He  did  not  hesitate  to  override,  in  the  case  of  Saut  at  any  rate,  some 
of  their  cherished  privileges. ^'^  At  his  court  at  Dax  a  decision  was 
rendered  which  gravely  affected  the  interests  of  the  burghers.  \Mien 
debts  were  contracted,  it  was  customary  for  several  persons  to  act 
as  pledges  for  the  debtor  and  if  the  latter  failed  to  pay  the  com- 
mune not  infrequently  ordered  the  seizure  of  the  property  of  those 
who  had  guaranteed  the  loan.  This  practice  of  seizing  property  on  a 
simple  order  of  a  communal  court  appeared  to  Simon  as  one  of  the 
most  frequent  causes  of  quarrels  with  the  neighboring  seigneurs, 
and  he,  therefore,  induced  an  assembly  of  prelates,  barons,  knights 
and  burghers  to  decree  its  abolition.^^  Some  of  the  burghers — per- 
haps all — had  indeed  assented  to  this  decree  in  the  assembly,  but 
secretly  they  detested  it  as  rendering  it  more  difficult  for  them  to 
collect  their  debts.  The  seneschal  had  thus  provoked  an  under- 
current of  ill-feeling  in  the  town.^^ 

Yet  Simon  gave  the  towns  some  cause  for  gratitude.  At  Dax 
he  seized  the  lords  of  Labourd,  who  had  been  pillaging  the  mer- 
chants, and  imposed  on  them  a  heavy  ransom.  The  viscount  of  Gra- 
mont  he  consigned  to  a  prison  in  La  Reole.  The  viscount  of 
Soule  was  likewise  roughly  handled. ^^    No  doubt  there  were  many 

^*  Ibid.,  24.     He  was  kept  in  prison  six  years. 
"  Ibid. 

'"Ibid.,  24-25. 

"  Balasque,  Etudes,  II,  102. 

^  They  make  it  later  a  subject  of  complaint.  Bemont,  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort.  301.    Balasque,  Etudes,  II,  582. 

^^  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  in  the  Revue  historique,  IV,  245-46. 


ii8  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

burghers  in  Dax  and  Bayonne  who  rejoiced  to  see  the  barons  who 
had  pillaged  them  thus  humbled,  and  the  fact  that  the  proceedings 
were  illegal  doubtless  troubled  them  but  little.  Whatever  its  ulti- 
mate consequences,  for  the  moment  Simon's  stern  policy  was  com- 
pletely successful.  The  nobles  were  awed  by  such  unaccustomed 
vigor  in  the  seneschal  and  a  sudden  peace  descended  upon  Gas- 
cony.  To  complete  the  pacification  of  the  province  he  concluded  an 
accord  with  the  king  of  Navarre  and  arranged  a  truce  with  Gaston 
of  Beam.'*" 

Yet  the  peace  was  most  precarious.  Below  the  surface  innumer- 
able resentments  smoldered.  Those  of  the  nobles  are  easy  to  under- 
stand, but  the  towns  were  likewise  discontented.  Bayonne,  or  rather 
perhaps  some  of  her  citizens,  resented  the  peace  with  Navarre,  and 
Dax  was  angered  by  that  with  Bearn.*^  Moreover,  the  party  balance 
in  the  towns  was  most  unstable.  At  Dax  there  were  renewed  disor- 
ders and  complaints  had  no  doubt  already  reached  the  ears  of  Simon 
against  the  powers  that  were.  At  Bordeaux  the  seneschal  tried  to 
take  counsel  with  both  parties,  and  at  Bayonne  he  had  forbidden  the 
"companies,"  which  was  possibly  but  another  name  for  the  confra- 
ternity.*- This  might  seem  a  blow  at  the  popular  party ;  but  he  sum- 
moned to  his  side  their  leader  John  Dardir,*^  so  that  his  attitude 
still  remained  ambiguous. 

During  the  following  year  the  trouble  came  to  a  head  in  various 
places.  Dax  and  Bordeaux,  however,  were  its  chief  centers.  At 
Dax  the  retiring  mayor,  Bernard  de  Frances,  had  named  his  own 
successor;  or,  at  least,  secured  the  election  of  the  new  mayor  from 
his  own  party.  Legally  three  names  should  have  been  presented  to 
the  seneschal,  who  should  have  chosen  the  mayor  from  among  them. 

'"  Ibid.,  247-48. 

"Ibid.  See  further  Balasque  Stiides,  II,  582,  where  the  complaints  of  the 
citizens  are  printed. 

**  Bemont,  in  Introduction  to  the  Roles  Gascons,  T,  cv. 
*^  Balasque,  Strides,  II,  116-117,  and  in  the  Pieces,  584. 


SIMON  DE  MONT  FORT 


119 


Frances,  or  the  Dacquois,  did  not  trouble  to  observe  the  law  but 
chose  the  mayor  outright.**  Simon  at  once  descended  on  the  city. 
He  kept  the  two  in  custody  till  he  arrived  at  Bordeaux,  and  they 
based  his  action  upon  other  grounds.  During  the  tumults  in  Dax  a 
cleric  had  been  killed  by  a  nephew  of  Frances,  and  Frances,  who  was 
then  mayor,  compelled  the  relatives  to  pronounce  the  formula  of 
pardon.  The  mother  of  the  murdered  man,  however,  appealed  to 
Simon,  who,  coming  to  Dax,  forced  an  assembly  of  burghers  to 
swear  not  to  molest  the  family  of  the  cleric  for  their  complaint.  With 
that  he  left  the  city  carrying  with  him  both  Frances  and  his  successor. 
He  kept  the  two  in  custody  till  he  arrived  at  Bordeaux  and  they 
were  then  released  only  after  taking  an  oath  not  to  return  to  Dax.*^ 

Apparently  the  storm  at  Bordeaux  followed  a  little  later.  Ac- 
cording to  Gaillard  de  Soler,  warnings  had  some  time  before  begun 
to  reach  Rustengo,  his  father  and  titular  leader  of  the  party,  that 
Simon  was  allying  himself  with  their  enemies  and  forming  a  com- 
bination for  their  overthrow.  Rustengo,  by  this  same  account,  re- 
fused to  believe  that  the  English  government  could  take  sides  against 
one  who  had  rendered  such  important  services  as  he  had  done.  Yet 
as  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  Henry  had  already  placed  the 
Colombines  in  power  at  the  expense  of  the  Solers,  we  may  discount 
these  statements  of  Gaillard,  which  represent  his  father  and  party 
as  taken  entirely  by  surprise. 

Of  what  followed  we  have  two  accounts,  one  that  of  the  Soler 
party  contained  in  the  complaint  which  Gaillard  de  Soler  afterwards 
addressed  to  the  king,  and  the  other  in  the  answer  of  Simon  to  the 
charges.*^  On  the  main  facts  there  is  substantial  agreement,  but  in 
details  considerable,  though  not  irreconcilable,  difference.     Perhaps 

**  Ibid.,  109. 
''Ibid. 

"  Both  are  published  by  Bemont  in  the  Pieces  justificatives  to  his  Simon 
de  Mont  fort. 


I20  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

from  the  two  we  may  reconstruct  the  sequence  of  events  with  suffi- 
cient accuracy.  Also  we  may  inquire  if  they  agree  with  such  tenta- 
tive conclusions  as  we  have  reached  respecting-  the  character  of  the 
parties. 

The  situation  in  Bordeaux  was  in  substance  this.  Simon,  still 
claiming  neutrality,  was  yet  leaning — or  seeming  to  lean — towards 
the  Colombines.  The  Solers  were  growing  uneasy  at  the  preference 
shown  their  rivals.  If,  as  was  suggested,  the  Solers  were  more  or 
less  intimately  associated  with  the  neighboring  barons  and  the  aris- 
tocratic faction  at  Bayonne,  the  seneschal  might  well  feel  the  diffi- 
culty of  leaving  in  power  at  Bordeaux  a  party  affiliated  with  ele- 
ments he  was  preparing  to  attack.  The  Colombines,  feeling  sure  of 
his  favor,  determined  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis.  On  the  eve  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  (June  28)  a  tumult  broke  out  in  the  city.  In 
the  documents  the  cause  is  not  specified,  but  we  may  surmise  that 
the  approach  of  the  communal  election  was  the  chief  factor  in  the 
case.  At  this  time  the  mayor  appears  to  have  been  chosen  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  June,*"  and  the  riot  therefore  took  place  the  night 
before.  According  to  their  own  statement  both  the  Solers  and  the 
seneschal  were  taken  by  surprise,  yet  the  presence  of  partisans  from 
La  Reole  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  Solers  were  not  so  unpre- 
pared as  they  pretended.  Hearing  of  the  riot,  the  mayor,  jurats  and 
three  hundred,  who  seem  to  have  been  upon  the  side  of  the  Solers, 
hurriedly  repaired  to  the  scene  of  the  disturbance  and  tried  in  vain  to 
quiet  it.  At  about  the  same  time  Montfort  was  aroused  from  his 
sleep  by  the  news  of  the  tumult,  and  with  such  men-at-arms  as  were 
at  hand  he  hurried  forth  into  the  streets.  Once  upon  the  spot,  he 
commanded  both  parties  to  cease  their  combat.  The  Colombines, 
doubtless  sure  of  the  seneschal  in  advance,  at  once  obeyed,  drawing 
back  from  the  melee  and  toward  Montfort.    The  Solers,  disregarding 

*'  R.  G.,  3767.    Pat.  Rolls,  303. 


SIMON  DE  MONTFORT  I2r 

his  presence — or  considering  him  as  in  league  with  their  enemies — 
continued  the  attack.  So  that,  whatever  his  first  intentions,  Simon 
soon  found  himself  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  Colombines  against 
their  rivals.  After  a  fierce  struggle  wherein  several  prominent  men 
of  both  parties  lost  their  lives,  the  Solers  were  repulsed.  Simon 
and  his  forces  at  once  beseiged  the  house  of  Rustengo  de  Soler, 
who,  old  and  sick,  had  taken  no  direct  part  in  the  riot,  and  finally 
induced  or  compelled  him  to  surrender,  together  with  several  other 
leaders  of  his  party. 

Order  temporarily  restored,  Simon  demanded  twenty  hostages 
from  each  of  the  two  parties.  Among  those  who  presented  them- 
selves from  the  Solers  were  Peter  Lambert,  Peter  Viger,  Raymond 
Arnold  Alonader,  Thomas,  son  of  ]\Iartin  Faure,  Jordan  and  Bernard 
d'Arca,  Arnold  de  Camparrian  and  Silvester  Raymond  i\Ionader. 
So  far  as  the  rolls  serve  to  show,  not  one  of  these  was  engaged  in  the 
wine  trade.  Several,  however,  may  have  had  relatives  who  had 
some  dealings  in  English  commerce.  But  none,  either  directly  or 
through  possible  relatives,  were  deeply  involved  therein.  Not  only 
did  Simon  compel  both  parties  to  give  hostages,  but  he  also  com- 
pelled them  to  surrender  to  him  a  number  of  their  houses. 

The  attitude  of  the  seneschal  could  not  be  long  in  doubt.  To 
his  mind  it  appeared  clear  that  the  Solers  were  to  blame  and  the 
Colombines  comparatively  innocent.  Had  not  the  latter  promptly 
obeyed  his  orders  and  withdrawn  from  the  melee  while  the  Solers 
had  violently  attacked  him?  Very  soon,  therefore,  he  released  the 
hostages  he  had  taken  from  the  Colombines,  or  allowed  them  to  give 
their  sons  or  relatives  as  substitutes,  and  restored  to  them  their  prop- 
erty, while  he  detained  the  Solers  in  prison. 

Alany  of  the  partisans  of  the  Solers  had  fled  the  city  after  the 
riot  and  in  particular  the  two  sons  of  Rustengo,  Gaillard,  the  active 
leader  of  the  faction,  and  his  brother  Peter  had  been  absent  at  the 
time.  Refugees  and  absentees  alike  hesitated  to  return  to  the  city,. 


122 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


where  they  had  to  dread  not  only  the  hostihty  of  the  seneschal  but  the 
violence  of  the  Colombines,  who,  according  to  the  Soler  version,  de- 
stroyed much  of  their  property  without  interference  from  Simon. 
In  vain  the  seneschal  proclaimed  that  all  might  return  to  the  city  in 
safety,  for  he  added  the  provision  that  they  should  justify  themselves 
before  the  court.  The  Colombines  now  held  the  commune  in  their 
hands,  and  but  few  of  their  adversaries  cared  to  face  the  court, 
whether  it  were  that  of  the  commune  or  the  seneschal.**  Simon  de- 
clared the  goods  of  those  who  did  not  return  forfeited,  and  seized 
upon  them,  no  doubt  to  the  immense  delight  of  their  triumphant  en- 
emies. 

Outside  the  city  the  exiled  Solers  promptly  involved  themselves 
in  the  baronial  wars.  Raymond,  viscount  of  Fronsac,  and  Amauvin 
<ie  Vayres  had  previously  been  disputing  for  the  possession  of  Blaye. 
The  question  had  been  submitted  to  arbitration,  and  the  arbitrators 
ordered  the  viscount  to  deliver  the  castle  of  Fronsac  to  Simon  dur- 
ing his  term  of  office  as  seneschal.*^  Raymond  not  only  refused  to 
surrender  the  castle  but  he  sheltered  in  it  the  fugitive  Solers.  Mont- 
fort  acted  with  vigor  and  decision.  At  Bordeaux,  after  the  riot, 
William  Raymond  Colom  had  been  installed  as  mayor.  At  the  head 
of  his  knights  and  of  the  commune  of  Bordeaux  Simon  sallied  forth 
upon  the  rebellious  viscount.  Fronsac  was  beseiged  and  soon  taken, 
"but  Raymond  and  his  friends  succeeded  in  making  their  escape. 

While  these  events  were  in  progress  the  aged  Rustengo  de  Soler 
died  in  the  prison  of  the  seneschal,  Gaillard,  his  son,  having  refused 
to  take  his  place  as  a  hostage.  If  Gaillard  entertained  any  hopes  of 
succeeding  to  his  father's  property  he  little  understood  the  temper  of 
Simon  de  Montfort.    The  possessions  of  the  unfortunate  Rustengo 

**  Their  reluctance  seems  to  have  been  well  founded  for  Simon  treated 
some  who  did  return  with  scant  justice.  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  30. 
Thedetails  are  drawn  from  the  complaints  of  Gaillard  Soler  above  referred  to. 

^"Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  30. 


SIMON  DE  MONT  FORT 


123 


were  at  once  seized,  among  them  the  castle  of  Belin,  while  the  same 
treatment  was  accorded  the  property  of  the  viscount.^'' 

After  the  fall  of  Fronsac,  Gaillard  de  Soler  and  some  of  his 
friends  who  were  still  at  large  fled  to  England  to  lay  their  griefs  be- 
fore the  king.  At  court  they  were  well  received  and  Henry  even 
issued  an  order  for  the  restoration  of  their  property.^^  But  their 
prosperity  was  brief.  Simon  did  not  obey  the  order,  and  the  new 
mayor  of  Bordeaux,  William  Raymond  Colom,  arrived  suddenly  in 
London.^-  In  a  short  time  he  succeeded  in  changing  the  royal  views 
to  such  a  degree  that  Gaillard  and  twelve  companions  were  arrested 
and  thrown  into  prison,^^  where  Simon  found  them  when  he  himself 
arrived  in  May  of  1250.  The  English  council  had  decided  that  Gail- 
lard and  his  colleagues  should  be  tried  before  the  court  of  Gascony 
and  they  were  accordingly  turned  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
seneschal.^*  Simon,  without  troubling  himself  to  try  them  before 
any  court,  cast  them  into  prison  and  at  length  released  them  only  at 
the  price  of  a  heavy  fine.^^ 

The  downfall  of  the  Solers  at  Bordeaux  was  felt  throughout 
Gascony.  On  their  side  in  the  bloody  riot  of  June  28  there  had 
fought  several  members  of  the  Pins  family,  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial in  La  Reole.^*'  Those  implicated  in  the  riot  Simon  seized,  and 
in  addition  he  compelled  the  town  to  give  hostages.  This  done,  he 
placed  the  Pins  and  the  hostages  together  on  the  island  of  Oleron 
and  they  remained  prisoners  till  1254.  He  also  banished  many  citi- 
zens from  the  town.^^   From  La  Reole  he  turned  to  Bazas.    Here,  as 

'"  Ibid. 

^^  Ibid.,  31,  note  2. 

"  Ibid. 

''  S'hirley,  Royal  Letters,  IT,  381. 

"  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  31.  Letter  of  the  king  to  Simon  in  Ry- 
mer,  Foedera,  I,  449. 

°' Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  31. 

'^  Ibid.,  31-32. 

"■'Ibid.,  32.  R.  G.,  3929,  4136,  4137,  4291,  4293.  Pat.  Rolls,  319,  Z2>7,  338. 
353- 


124  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

at  Bordeaux,  there  were  two  factions.  Thither  Simon  went,  having 
been  warned  against  one  of  the  factions  by  the  new  mayor  of  Bord- 
eaux. The  two  factions  were  led,  one  by  Bertrand  de  Ladils  and 
Arnold  de  Ladils,  the  other  by  William  Arnold  de  Ladils  and  Men- 
daldus  Guitarin.  It  was  this  latter  faction  which  was  favored  by 
the  Colombines,  and  Simon's  first  act  was  to  demand  hostages  from 
their  opponents.  Fearing  the  same  fate  as  that  which  had  overtaken 
the  Solers,  they  refused  his  demand  and  took  refuge  in  the  church, 
which  Simon  promptly  beseiged.  Many  burghers  were  killed,  oth- 
ers seized  and  banished  and  their  property  pillaged.'^^ 

The  communes  of  the  north  thus  temporarily  settled,  Simon 
turned  to  the  south  to  stop  the  ravages  of  Gaston  of  Beam  on  the 
Adour.^^  Temporarily  triumphant  on  all  sides,  he  was  able  to  leave 
the  province  in  February  of  1250  for  a  visit  to  England.  In  a  single 
year  he  had  upset  the  political  balance  in  three  of  the  chief  communes 
of  northern  Gascony.  What,  then,  was  the  inner  significance  of 
these  events? 

For  one  thing  it  is  evident  that  the  parties  in  these  three  towns 
wxre  intimately  related  to  each  other.  Some  of  the  leaders  of  the 
factions  of  La  Reole  were  involved  in  the  riots  at  Bordeaux  on  the 
side  of  the  Solers,  and  at  Bazas  the  action  of  the  seneschal  was  at- 
tributed to  the  influence  of  the  Colombines.  How  and  why  should 
these  parties  be  thus  connected?  What  was  the  real  basis  of  the  division 
at  Bordeaux? — for  this  will  almost  certainly  throw  light  upon  the 
problem.  Of  the  persons  who  are  named  in  the  course  of  the  tumult 
and  the  events  following  nearly  all  of  the  Colombines  were  more  or 
less  involved  in  the  English  wine  trade,  while  scarcely  any  of  the 
Solers  can  be  found  mentioned  in  this  connection.  Jullian,  indeed, 
considers  that  the  basis  of  the  hostility  of  the  two  parties  was  a  com- 

°' These  facts  appear  in  a  complaint  against  Simon  drawn  up  by  two  cit- 
izens of  Bazas  and  publislied  by  Bemont,  Siuwn  dc  Mont  fort,  309. 
'"Ibid.,  Z3. 


SIMON  DE  MONT  FORT 


125 


mercial  rivalry  in  the  English  market.*"'  Though  he  states  his  con- 
clusions as  sans  aiicun  doute,  nevertheless  there  appear  strong  rea- 
sons for  questioning  it.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  in  the  time  of  John, 
Rustengo  de  Soler  was  an  English  wine  merchant.  John's  seizure 
of  his  wine  proves  it.  Yet  from  that  time  forward  no  record  is  to 
be  found  of  his  being  engaged  in  that  trade.  If  he  were  a  large 
wine  merchant  it  is  strange  that,  while  the  English  king  was  almost 
continually  buying  wine  of  the  Coloms,  he  never  once  appears  as 
buying  of  the  Solers.^^  This  silence  of  the  rolls  would  seem  to  war- 
rant the  conclusion  that  Rustengo  had  turned  his  attention  in  other 
directions.  As  early  as  12 17  he  had  been  put  in  charge  of  a  castle 
as  a  royal  officer.  In  1219  he  had  been  bailiff  of  Dax®^  and  in  1227 
he  had  been  granted  estates  in  fief.*^^  In  1228  he  is  put  in  charge 
of  the  Castle  of  Belin,^*  which  by  1249  he  holds  as  a  regular  feudal 
possession.  In  addition,  he  had  been  custodian  of  Bayonne*^^  and 
served  as  seneschal  of  Gascony. 

From  such  a  career  the  conclusion  seems  evident.  Abandoning 
the  wine  trade  Rustengo  has  become  a  feudal  lord,  and  gradually 
affiliated  himself  to  some  extent  with  the  other  feudal  lords  of  that 
region.  Around  him  in  his  faction  he  had  grouped  the  Acras,  the 
Lamberts,  the  Faures  and  the  Vigers.  Of  these  we  may  dispose 
briefly.  In  1224  Bernard  d'  Acra  obtained  permission  to  bring 
goods  to  England  for  two  years.*^*^    At  the  time  Acra  was  the  repre- 

^^  Hist 0 ire  de  Bordeaux,  142. 

"  The  only  record  of  such  a  purchase  that  I  have  been  able  to  find  is  in 
1224,  when  Henry  paid  John  de  Solers  for  55  tuns  of  wine  bought  at  Bristol, 
Rot.  lift,  clans,  I,  597.  The  name  Soleriis  was  not  unknown  at  other  places 
than  Bordeaux,  as  a  glance  at  the  index  of  the  Rolls  will  show,  and  there 
is  nothing  definitely  to  connect  this  person  with  Bordeaux  except  the  name. 

°'  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  46. 

''Charter  Rolls,  I,  61. 

"  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  I,  320. 

''Ibid.,  I,  319- 

'"Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  496. 


126  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

sentative  of  the  commune  in  London.  Otherwise,  neither  of  the 
Acras  is  to  be  found  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  English 
trade.  The  Vigers — or  at  least  Elias — were  egaged  in  the  Eng- 
lish wine  trade  in  the  reign  of  John,  that  is,  in  1203.  In  1204, 
however,  Elias  acquired  the  estate  of  Beggles  and  seems  to  have  fol- 
lowed in  the  footsteps  of  Rustengo,  for  he  is  not  again  heard  of  in 
this  connection.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  the  Lamberts  or  the 
Faures  were  ever  engaged  in  commerce.  Another  partisan  of  Rust- 
engo, Peter  Bonafus,  was  a  wine  merchant  in  1224,  but,  like  the  oth- 
ers is  not  again  thus  mentioned.  The  other  supporters  of  the  Solers 
can  none  of  them  be  identified  as  engaged  in  the  English  commerce. 
If  we  turn  now  to  their  opponents,  the  case  is  different.  The  Coloms 
themselves  were  deeply  involved  in  English  trade.  With  them  was 
associated  Peter  Calhau,  who  was  also  prominent  in  the  same  field."''' 
Thus  we  find  the  chief  leaders  of  the  party  distinctly  representative 
of  this  class  of  interests.  Of  course,  on  the  basis  of  these  facts  we 
are  not  warranted  in  assuming  that  the  Solers  had  entirely  abandoned 
the  wine  trade  but  only  that  their  English  interests  had  ceased  to  be 
their  main  ones,  that  they  had  become  distinctly  subordinate  to  other 
interests. 

To  sum  up  then  what  we  may  conclude  concerning  the  parties 
at  Bordeaux :  It  would  seem  that  the  early  commune  was  ruled, 
largely  if  not  wholly,  by  merchants  engaged  chiefly  in  English  com- 
merce ;  that  as  time  went  on  a  division  occurred.  Some  of  these  mer- 
chants, having  doubtless  amassed  considerable  wealth,  began  to  in- 
vest this  wealth  in  land,  to  acquire  fiefs  and  to  mix  with  and  draw 
towards  the  Gascon  nobilty.  Gradually  there  arose  an  opposition 
between  this  element  and  those  citizens  who  had  continued  their  com- 
mercial activities.    By  1229  hostility  had  grown  so  great  that  a  revolt 

"  William  R.  Colom  was  engaged  in  the  English  trade  in  1242  and  1243 
{R.  G.,  349,  837.  Pat.  Rolls,  313,  363).  Peter  Colom  obtains  an  exemption 
for  a  ship  loaded  with  wine  in  1254  {R.  G.,  2955).  The  Calhau  were  engaged 
in  the  same  trade  in  1243  and  in  1253  (/?.  G.,  1466,  1677,  2743). 


SIMON  DB  MONTFORT 


127 


broke  out  directed  against  the  seneschal,  who,  with  the  aid  of  the 
aristocratic  party,  suppressed  the  disorder.  The  now  dominant  Solers 
at  once  suggest  to  the  seneschal  the  taxation  of  wine,  a  thought  not 
likely  to  occur  to  men  seriously  interested  in  this  traffic.  The  two 
parties  continue  their  strife  intermittently  till  Henry,  in  his  campaign 
of  1242,  is  brought  over  by  loans  from  the  Colombines  and  induced 
to  put  them  in  power.  They  fall,  however,  before  their  adversaries 
in  1247.  In  1249  Simon  de  Montfort  again  hurls  the  Solers  from 
their  supremacy  and  replaces  their  rivals. 

Assuming  that  this  interpretation  of  the  situation  and  events  at 
Bordeaux  is  correct,  how  does  it  help  us  to  understand  the  parties 
in  La  Reole  and  Bazas  ?  A  party  allied  with  the  nobility  might  easily 
have  more  or  less  close  relations  with  a  similar  party  in  other  towns, 
and  business  relations — for  one  thing — might  draw  their  opponents 
together.  Close  personal  relations  between  various  leaders  is  evi- 
denced by  the  occasions  on  which  they  acted  as  pledges  for  each 
other,  as  when  Peter  Calhau  and  Bernard  d'Alhan  pledged  them- 
selves to  the  extent  of  500  marks  for  the  loyalty  of  Peter  de  Rosset 
of  Bayonne.^*  Similarly  we  find  Columbus  de  Burgo,  a  citizen  of 
Bordeaux,  acting  as  an  agent  for  Garsie  Aquelin,  a  citizen  of  St. 
Macaire,  and  receiving  money  from  the  king  for  his  use.''''  Inter- 
marriage also,  at  times,  bound  together  members  of  the  different 
parties  in  certain  towns,  as  when  a  daughter  of  W.  A.  de  Ladils,. 
popular  leader  at  Bazas,  married  Colombus  de  Burgo,  one  of  the 
Colombines  at  Bordeaux.'^''  If  the  Colombines  were  a  commercial 
party,  they  would  almost  necessarily  have  an  affiliated  faction  in  the 
neighboring  towns.  A  group  of  men  engaged  in  the  export  of  Gas- 
con wine  to  England  could  easily  form  close  relations  with  such 
groups  of  persons  in  La  Reole  and  Bazas  as  were  accustomed  to 

"^R.  G.,  3925.    Pat.  Rolls,  319. 
*'R.  G.,  2680. 
™  Ihid.,  4384. 


128  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

make  Bordeaux  their  market.  Then  too,  members  of  the  same 
family  might  in  the  way  of  business  settle  in  different  towns.  This 
is  suggested  by  the  fact  that  persons  of  the  same  name  are  to  be 
found  associated  with  different  communes.  Thus  there  was  a 
Bertrand  de  Ladils  at  Bazas,  another  at  La  Reole'^  and,  later,  still 
another  at  Bordeaux.'^^  Moreover  we  have  seen  reason  to  conclude 
only  that  the  Solers  and  their  affiliated  factions  were  not  deeply 
interested  in  the  English  trade,  not  that  they  had  withdrawn  from 
all  commerce.  Some  of  their  estates  may  have  been  so  situated 
that  they  found  other  markets  for  their  wine  more  advantageous. 
It  is  suggestive  in  this  connection  that  in  1248  the  commune  of 
La  Reole  undertook  to  protect  the  persons  and  property  of  merchants 
of  Toulouse  in  their  city  ;'^  and,  also,  that  some  of  the  Reolese  citi- 
zens who  fled  before  the  wrath  of  Simon  sought  refuge  in  Marmande 
and  some  in  Spain.'^* 

Simon  had  evidently,  then,  made  up  his  mind  to  trust  the  Anglo- 
commercial  party  at  Bordeaux  and  its  affiliated  factions  at  Bazas 
and  La  Reole.  No  doubt  the  friendship  of  the  Solers  for  the  feudal 
lords  such  as  the  viscount  of  Fronsac  had  much  to  do  with  their 
downfall.  Simon  must  have  known  well  enough  how  much  the 
nobles  hated  him  and  he  may  well  have  thought  it  unsafe  to  leave 
parties  friendly  to  them  in  control  of  the  towns.  When  he  returned 
to  England  the  province  was  outwardly  at  peace,  but  discontent  was 
bitter  and  the  situation  precarious. 

During  the  earl's  absence,  in  March  of  1250,  the  signs  of  revolt 
began  to  show  themselves.  He  hurried  back  to  Gascony  to  meet  the 
insurrection,  but  found  that  province  outwardly  tranquil.  His  ene- 
mies were  arming  but  had  not  yet  struck  a  blow.     At  Bordeaux  he 

"  Ibid.,  4281,  and  page  124  of  this  study. 

'^  See  Index  to  R.  G.,  vol.  III. 

"  Ibid.,  XV,  16S. 

""■  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  72. 


SIMON  DB  MONT  FORT  129 

imposed  a  peace  upon  the  citizens  and  forced  both  parties  to  swear 
it.  The  reason  for  this  was  perhaps  the  fact  that  he  saw  himself 
forced  to  release  some  of  the  Soler  faction  and  wished  to  put  it  out 
of  their  power  to  do  him  mischief.  The  peace  did  not,  however,  in- 
clude the  principal  Soler  leaders,  who  were  to  be  anathema  to  all  good 
citizens  as  they  were  to  the  earl.  Gaillard  de  Soler  is  expressly 
mentioned  as  a  child  of  discord  and  the  citizens  are  obliged  to  swear 
to  oppose  him  and  his  chief  followers  as  well  as  to  be  loyal  to  the 
seneschal."  At  Dax  also  a  riot  on  July  25,  ending  in  the  death  of  the 
mayor,  Domemic  de  Bilambiz,  had  given  Simon  an  opportunity  to 
impose  a  peace  and  to  compel  mayor,  jurats  and  citizens  to  swear  it.'^^ 

For  the  rest,  the  seneschal  fortified  and  waited  for  the  malcontents 
to  strike  the  first  blow."'  At  length,  having  allowed  the  earl  to  ex- 
pend most  of  his  money  in  fortifications  and  other  expenses,  his  ene- 
mies rose  in  open  revolt  in  January  of  1251.'^^  The  leaders  of  the 
insurgents  were  Gaston  of  Beam,  Amaneus  d'Albret,  the  viscount  of 
Fronsac  and  other  nobles,  reinforced  by  Gaillard  de  Soler  and  many 
citizens  from  Bordeaux,  La  Reole  and  Bazas."^  A  sharp  and  bitter 
struggle  followed  wherein,  in  spite  of  many  odds  against  him,  Simon 
triumphed  over  his  adversaries.  By  the  beginning  of  1252  he  had 
temporarily  cowed  the  Gascon  nobles  and  compelled  the  Solers  to 
pay  a  ransom  and  swear  not  to  return  to  Bordeaux  during  his  ad- 
ministration. Hence  he  was  able  to  return  to  England  for  the  pur- 
pose of  defending  himself  before  the  king. 

During  this  struggle  with  the  Gascon  barons  Simon  had  com- 

''^  Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  86.  The  text  of  the  treaty  as  approved  by  the 
king  is  published  in  Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  461.  See  also  Bemont,  Simon  de 
Montfort,  35-36. 

"  Bemont,  ibid.,  39. 

''The  revenues  of  Ireland  had  been  assigned  to  him  by  Henry  in  Novem- 
ber of  1249  for  the  purpose  of  fortifying.  See  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  55, 
and  Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  55. 

'*  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  36. 

''Ibid. 


I30  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

pleted  the  scries  of  communal  revolutions  by  overriding  the  Etablisse- 
mcnts  at-Bayonne  and  naming  a  mayor  from  the  popular  party.^* 
Such  a  revolution  is  not  surprising ;  the  wonder  is  rather  that  it  was 
so  long  delayed.  The  popular  faction  had  been  in  favor  with  Simon 
from  the  first ;  he  declared  later  that  John  Dardir  had  been  his  ad- 
viser throughout  his  administration.^^  This  party  was,  moreover, 
closely  affiliated  with  the  Colombines,  since  later  on  Oalhau  acts  as  a 
pledge  for  Rosset,  whom  Simon  had  named  as  mayor.  In  addition 
there  would  seem  to  have  been  special  reasons  for  suspicions  against 
the  faction  of  Michael  de  Mans.  For  one  thing,  Mans  himself  be- 
longed to  the  family  of  the  lords  of  Labourd,  whom  Simon  had  ar- 
rested without  a  judgment  on  his  first  arrival  in  the  province.  In 
any  case,  with  Rosset  mayor  of  Bayonne  the  allies  of  the  Colombines 
dominated  all  the  towns  of  Gascony.^^ 

Outwardly,  Simon  was  successful  in  his  policy.  Gascony  was 
again  at  peace  and  the  revolt  against  him  had  been  put  down.  Yet 
the  end  of  his  administration  was  near  at  hand.  His  overthrow, 
however,  vv'as  accomplished  not  in  Gascony  but  in  England.  Ever 
since  Simon's  arrival  on  the  continent  complaints  had  poured  in  to 
the  king.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  revolt  of  125 1,  while  Simon 
was  yet  in  England,  Henry's  faith  in  him  had  been  shaken.  When 
the  earl  was  returning  to  Gascony  Matthew  Paris  represented  the 
king  as  saying  to  him:  "By  God's  head,  Sir  Count,  I  will  not  deny 
that  you  have  fought  bravely  for  me  and  rendered  efficient  service. 
But,  in  truth,  there  ascends  a  clamor  of  grave  complaint  against  you, 
that  men  coming  to  you  in  peace  and  summoned  by  you  in  good 
faith,  you  have  seized  and  even  put  to  death. "^^  The  clamor  was 
ascending  more  ^nd  more  with  every  year  of  Simon's  government, 

^^  Giry,  Utablisscments,  I,  no. 
"  Balasqne,  Etudes,  TI,  584. 
*"  Except,  perhaps,  Dax. 
^^  Ctironica  Majora,  V,  209. 


SIMON  DB  MONT  FORT 


131 


and  the  king  was  more  and  more  doubtful  of  the  poHcy  of  his  Heu- 
tenant.  For  the  time,  in  1251,  he  had  sent  Simon  back  with  sup- 
pHes,  especially  money.^*  He  had,  however,  sent  over  commissioners 
to  investigate  the  severity  of  his  seneschal.®^  Now,  when  at  the  end 
of  125 1  Simon  returned  victorious,  the  king  was  more  than  ever 
shaken  by  the  storm  of  accusation  and  denunciation  which  that  vic- 
tory had  called  forth.  For  the  moment  Simon  won  with  the  king 
as  with  the  Gascons.  Indeed  the  earl  had  two  strong  arguments  to 
ofifer.  Behind  him  lay  a  pacified  province,  and  in  his  hands  he  bore 
a  letter  from  the  commune  of  Bordeaux  in  which  the  Colombine  fac- 
tion, now  wholly  dominant,  declared  that,  amidst  the  gravest  diffi- 
culties and  the  bitterest  opposition,  the  earl  had,  up  to  that  time,  gov- 
erned the  king's  lands  "with  potent  strenuousness,  with  prudent  cir- 
cumspection, with  just  moderation,  with  persevering  clemency,  as- 
sisting loyal  subjects  and  punishing  rebels,  without  danger  to  any 
or  profuse  expenditure."^"  Such  a  letter  from  the  chief  commune 
of  Gascony  had  doubtless  a  great  effect  on  Simon's  contemporaries. 
Influenced  by  the  restored  order  on  the  continent  and  the  enthusiastic 
endorsement  of  Bordeaux,  the  king  hesitated  and  wavered,^''  when 
news  arrived  which  destroyed  Simon's  chief  defense.  Hardly  had 
he  left  Gascony  when  the  province  he  had  pacified  rose  in  revolt. 
The  whole  task  had  to  be  undertaken  again  and  new  supplies  of 
money  must  be  found.  The  earl's  policy  had  accomplished  nothing, 
and  order  in  the  duchy  was  as  far  ofif  as  before.  Again  the  rebels 
proffered  the  same  excuse.  The  injustice,  violence  and  cruelty  of 
Simon  left  them  no  other  recourse.  Under  such  conditions  Henry 
could  hardly  avoid  suspecting  that  there  was  foundation  for  the  com- 

"  Matt.  Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  V,  209. 

"Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  37-38.    Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  85. 
"  From  a  letter  of  Adam  Marsh  published  in  the  Monumenta  Franciscana, 
122. 

"  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  45. 


132  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

plaints,  and  truth  in  the  accusations.  Besides,  if  this  went  on  much 
longer,  would  not  the  exasperated  nobility  call  in  the  aid  of  other 
claimants,  as  the  king  of  France  or  of  Castile?  Henry  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  abandon  his  seneschal  and  ordered  an  examination  of  his 
conduct.  To  Gascony  he  despatched  envoys  commanding  that  the 
chief  towns,  Bordeaux,  La  Reole,  Bazas,  Dax,  St.  Sever,  St.  £mi- 
lion  and  Bayonne,  should  send  representatives  to  present  their  griev- 
ances to  him  directly,  and  that  some  of  the  chief  nobles  should  at- 
tend in  person. ®®  Pie  ordered  Simon  to  remain  in  England  to  meet 
and  answer  his  accusers. ^^ 

The  royal  commissioners  found  Gascony  in  chaos.  The  nobles 
were  in  full  revolt,  the  towns  were  shaken.  At  La  Reole,  where 
Simon  was  especially  unpopular  because  of  a  taille  he  had  levied,^* 
the  party  depressed  by  him  had  revolted  and,  with  the  help  of  Gaston 
of  Beam  and  loo  men-at-arms  whom  he  brought  with  him,  were  be- 
sieging the  earl's  partisans  in  the  castle.''-  The  commissioners,  after 
some  difficulty,  succeeded  in  imposing  a  truce  until  the  king  could 
finish  his  investigation.^-  Simon,  however,  did  not  obey  the  king. 
Justifying  himself,  no  doubt,  by  the  charter  which  had  given  him  the 
government  of  Gascony  for  seven  years,  he  set  ofif  for  that  province 
with  such  money  as  he  could  obtain. 

Now  the  threads  of  Gascon  affairs  tangled  themselves  into  a 
deeper  skein.  Three  sets  of  events  moved  forward  simultaneously, 
war  between  Simon  and  his  foes  in  Gascony,  investigations  of  his 
conduct  in  London,  and  negotiations  between  him  and  his  royal 
brother-in-law.  From  every  corner  of  the  province  complaints  poured 
up  against  him.    Even  the  towns  deserted  the  seneschal.    Bazas  and 

'Ubid.,  41. 

'"  Sihirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  81. 

■^  Ibid.,  72. 

^^  Ibid.,  76.     Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  41. 

"^  Bemont,  ibid.,  Shirley,  ibid. 


SIMON  DB  MONTFORT  133 

Bayonne  besought  the  king  to  remove  him.  At  Bayonne  the  popu- 
lar party  itself,  which  he  had  placed  in  power,  abandoned  him,  and 
John  Dardir  headed  a  delegation  to  complain  of  his  conduct.^^  It 
may  easily  have  been  that  the  earl  had  gone  farther  than  even  his 
partisans  were  willing  to  follow,  or  it  may  have  been  that  the  violent 
turmoil  in  the  province  was  reacting  injuriously  on  trade,  and  the 
popular  factions  felt  it  necessary  to  secure  a  somewhat  less  radical 
policy.  The  burghers  had,  moreover,  special  causes  of  complaint. 
The  terms  which  Simon  had  made  with  the  nobles  had  often  irri- 
tated the  citizens,  especially,  perhaps,  those  of  the  popular  party.  He 
had  also  made  certain  changes  in  the  currency  w^hich  had  not  been 
received  with  favor.^*  Many  of  the  exemptions  and  privileges  of  the 
towns  he  had  refused  to  respect,  as  when  he  had  insisted  upon  the 
payment  of  the  faille  by  the  citizens  of  La  Reole  in  spite  of  their  pro- 
tests.'-'^ The  peace  which  he  had  imposed  at  Dax  and  at  Bordeaux 
may  have  been  unpopular  with  certain  classes,  and  he  had  shown 
scant  respect  for  the  burghers  on  some  occasions,  as  when  he  pun- 
ished certain  citizens  of  Dax  upon  his  own  authority  in  defiance  of 
the  complaints  of  the  commune  that  this  contravened  their  rights  of 
justice,®^  Often,  too,  the  local  agents  of  the  earl  seem  to  have  been 
unwisely  chosen  and  to  have  brought  discredit  on  their  master.^^  Be- 
hind all  other  subjects  of  complaint  there  was,  no  doubt,  the  greater 
one  of  the  general  disorder  of  the  province.  That  disorder  may 
well  have  seemed  intolerable  and  the  burghers  have  discerned  no 
hope  of  peace  under  Simon's  government.  So  clear  had  this  be- 
come that  even  Colombine  Bordeaux  forsook  the  seneschal,  though 
somewhat  later.^^     Perhaps  already  the  nobles  were  threatening  to 

*^Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  305.     Balasque,  £tudes,  II,  584. 
"  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  in  the  Revue  historiqiie,  IV,  263. 
"'  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  72. 

°'  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  in  the  Revue  historique,  IV,  267. 
^'^  Ibid.,  261-262.     Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angcvins,  441. 
'^  Matt.  Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  V,  378. 


134  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

call  in  the  king  of  Castile,  as  they  were  shortly  to  do,  which  would 
in  itself  have  tended  to  alienate  the  popular  factions. 

Henry  began  at  once  an  attempt  at  conciliation  and  compromise. 
Simon  in  vain  defended  himself,  the  king  modified  and  interfered 
with  his  policy.  Besides  dealing  with  the  nobles  the  monarch  sought 
to  mediate  between  the  parties  at  Bordeaux.  On  June  6  he  wrote  to 
the  commune  directing  that  the  jurats  should  be  taken  in  equal  num- 
bers from  both  parties  as  he  had  arranged  when  he  last  visited  the 
city.®^  We  may,  however,  surmise  that  the  letter  had  but  little  ef- 
fect on  the  Colombines.  The  king  had  already,  on  May  i6,  cancelled 
as  illegal  an  agreement  which  Simon  had  forced  the  Solers  to  sign, 
pledging  themselves  not  to  appeal  from  his  judgment  to  the  king's.^''" 
Seeming  to  fear  that  his  effort  at  compromise  would  fail,  Henry  or- 
dered the  citizens  of  Bordeaux  to  keep  the  peace  till  he  should  come 
to  Gascony.^*'^  Already,  then,  he  had  decided  to  attempt  in  person 
that  pacification  which — as  it  seemed — Simon  had  failed  to  accom- 
plish. As  a  step  in  this  direction  he  solemnly — and  despite  the  pro- 
tests of  Richard  of  Cornwall — designated  his  son  Edward  as  duke 
of  Aquitaine.  Simon  at  length  grew  weary  of  a  struggle  in  which 
he  was  so  ill-supported  by  his  master.  Already  the  situation  was 
growing  worse ;  for  Alfonso  of  Castile  was  preparing  to  revive  the 
claims  which  had  once  before  been  asserted  in  the  duchy.  The  Gas- 
con malcontents  would  have  foreign  support  while  the  seneschal  was 
abandoned  by  his  sovereign.  Under  these  circumstances  he  yielded 
to  the  inevitable,  and  resigning  his  government  in  return  for  a  sum 
of  money,  he  withdrew  to  France.^*^^ 

No  sooner  had  he  turned  his  back  on  Gascony  (in  April  of  1253) 
than  a  new  revolt  broke  out.    This  time  it  had  as  its  nominal  head 

'"' Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  89.    Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  158. 

"^  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  388. 

^""■Ibid.,  90.     Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  159. 

'""  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  49  and  Pieces,  XXV. 


SIMON  DE  MONT  FORT  135 

the  Castilian  king,  who  grouped  about  him  numerous  feudal  lords 
— among  them  Gaston  of  Beam — and  many  powerful  burghers.  It 
was  against  this  combination  that  Henry  had  to  make  head  when,  in 
August  of  1253,  he  arrived  at  last  at  Bordeaux.^^^ 

The  administration  of  Simon  de  Montfort  in  Gascony  cannot  be 
pronounced  a  success.  As  to  the  causes  of  his  failure  it  is  more  dif- 
ficult to  speak  with  certainty.  Montfort  himself  was  certainly  not 
blameless.  His  recklessness,  his  contempt  for  forms  and  even  rights, 
his  harshness,  all  weighed  against  him.  Then,  too,  though  a  gallant 
warrior  in  the  field  he  was  no  administrator.  From  all  sides  there 
were  complaints  against  his  bailiffs  and  other  subordinates.^*'*  Yet 
it  is  only  just  to  note  that  his  policy  was  hardly  given  a  fair  trial. 
The  plan  of  governing  Gascony  by  the  exclusive  support  of  the  pop- 
ular parties  and  the  stern  suppression  of  the  nobility  and  its  sympa- 
thizers may  have  been  a  possible  one.  But  to  succeed  it  needed  to 
be  persevered  in  steadily  and  the  vacillation  of  Henry  destroyed  all 
chance  of  success.  Yet  some  historians  have,  it  would  seem,  been 
unduly  severe  to  the  king  in  this  matter.  By  resolutely  supporting 
Simon  he  might  have  succeeded  in  crushing  opposition,  but  it  seems 
clear  that  he  must  have  risked  Gascony  on  the  result.  One  car  hardly 
blame  him  if  he  declined  to  take  the  risk  and  preferred  to  recall 
the  earl.  It  remained  now  to  be  seen  whether  a  gentler  policy  could 
quiet  the  turmoil  which  Simon  had  let  loose  upon  the  land. 

'^"^  Ibid.,  50.     Matt.  Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  V,  365  and  370. 
^°*  Bemont,  Simon  de  Montfort,  42,  note  5. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT,  1254-1255 

Allonso  claims  Gascony.  Peril  to  the  English  rule.  Revolt  of  the  Gascons. 
Attitude  of  the  towns.  Successful  campaign  of  Henry.  Support  given 
Ihim  by  the  towns.  Privileges  to  citizens.  Treaty  with  Alfonso.  Restores 
peace  in  Bordeaux  and  other  towns.     Treaty  with  France. 

No  SOONER  had  Simon  de  Montfort  left  Gascony  than  the  opposition 
which  he  had  to-  some  extent  overawed  broke  out  in  full  violence. 
Alfonso  X,  king  of  Castile,  at  once  laid  claim  to  the  duchy,  and  the 
commune  of  Bordeaux  informed  Henry  that  only  strong  and  imme- 
diate action  could  save  the  province  from  falling  into  his  hands. ^ 
Those  in  favor  of  Alfonso  gathered  under  the  leadership  of  Gaston 
of  Beam."  In  vain,  Henry  sought  to  impose  a  truce  till  he  could  ar- 
rive in  Gascony  and  promised  to  liberate  some  of  Simon's  prisoners.^ 
Henry  had,  in  May,  1253,  named  as  seneschal  a  knight  resident  at 
Bordeaux,  Peter  de  Burdegala.*  In  August  he  himself  crossed  over 
to  the  continent.^  He  found  the  revolt  well  under  way,  with  La 
Reole  and  Benauges  as  its  centers. 

What,  then,  were  the  resources  on  which  Henry  could  rely  to 

^  Matt.  Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  V,  365. 

-Ibid.,  370. 

'  Thus  he  promised  to  release  two  brothers  of  the  Pins  family  taken  by 
Simon  at  the  riot  in  Bordeaux  and  still  detained  in  prison.  Pat.  Rolls,  1247- 
1258,  158,  159.  He  likewise  ordered  the  restitution  of  the  property  of  Peter 
Bonafus  and  B.  Bidau.    Ibid.,  159. 

*  Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  193. 

'Ibid.,  221. 


THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT 


137 


make  head  against  his  rival?  Of  course  he  had  such  support  as  he 
could  g-et  from  England,  but  this  seems  to  have  been  hardly  suffi- 
cient to  enable  him  to  undertake  a  vigorous  campaign.*'  He  certainly 
depended,  in  large  part,  on  such  support  as  he  could  muster  in  Gas- 
cony  itself.  Here  he  could  rely  on  only  two  forces,  on  the  aid  of  such 
barons  as  were  loyal  or  could  be  won  over,  and  on  the  towns.  Our 
attention,  in  accord  with  the  general  purpose  of  the  study,  will  be 
directed  almost  wholly  to  the  latter.  What,  then,  was  the  general 
attitude  of  the  towns  toward  Henry  after  four  years  of  Simon's  rule? 
La  Reole  was  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  but  what  of  the 
other  communes?  According  to  Matthew  Paris  many  of  the  chief 
burghers  were  angry  with  the  king  himself  for  having  seized  or  de- 
tained their  wine  in  England.'^  Angry  they  might  be ;  but  the  Colom- 
bines  and  their  allies  were  not  prepared  to  rebel  against  a  king  who 
controlled  their  markets  in  England.  The  Solers  as  was  natural  had 
joined  the  standard  of  Alfonso,  and  with  them  many  other  discon- 
tented or  banished  citizens.^  Yet  the  king  clearly  trusted  to  the 
Colombines  for  even  before  his  arrival  in  the  province  he  had  placed 
the  Castle  of  Vayreis  in  charge  of  Peter  Calhau^  and  had  thanked 
the  commune  of  Bordeaux  for  its  loyal  attitude.^"  Some  of  the  re- 
bellious citizens  may  of  course  have  been  wine  merchants  whose  wines 
had  been  seized  by  the  English  government,  since  we  are  only  en- 
titled to  conclude  that  the  Soler  party  were  not  priinarily  interested 
in  the  wine  trade  and  not  that  they  had  no  interest  in  it.  Even  in 
the  case  of  the  Solers  themselves  we  may  well  imagine  some  continued 

'  Such  would  seem  to  be  indicated  by  his  numerous  borrowings.  See  also 
Davis,  England  under  Normans  and  Angevins,  443,  and  Tout,  in  Hunt  and 
Poole,  Political  History  of  England,  III,  77;  likewise  his  appeal  to  the  Eng- 
lish lords  for  help,  Pat.  Rolls,  279-280. 

^  Chronica  Majora,  V,  365. 

*  See  their  pardon  at  the  close  of  the  w-ar. 

'Archives  de  la  Gironde,  IV,  19. 

^"Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  22,2,. 


138  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

connection  with  the  Enghsh  trade  but  this,  if  it  existed,  was  of 
minor  importance  and  their  conduct  was  determined  by  their  other 
interests,  especially  those  which  linked  them  to  the  feudal  nobility. 
The  attitude  of  the  other  towns  toward  the  king  was  similar  to  that 
of  Bordeaux.  Henry  simply  took  Montfort's  place  and  inherited 
at  once  the  support  of  the  earl's  friends  and  the  hostility  of  his  foes. 
Thus,  the  very  position  of  afifairs  imposed  upon  Henry  a  general 
continuance  of  the  seneschal's  policy,  with  such  concessions  as  might 
seem  necessary  to  prevent  the  spread  of  revolt.  At  Bordeaux  he 
found  the  Colombines  in  power  with  Peter  Doat  as  mayor ;  nor  did 
he  interfere  with  their  supremacy ;  for  in  1254,  in  the  first  elections 
that  would  normally  be  held  during  his  stay  in  Gascony,  Doat  was 
replaced  by  William  Raymond  Colom.  In  Bayonne  the  party  op- 
posed to  Simon  was,  perhaps,  larger  and  more  aggressive,  for, 
instead  of  placing  in  office  a  mayor  belonging  to  either  faction,  he 
had  recourse  to  an  outsider  and  named  Bertrand  de  Podensac,  fol- 
lowing an  arrangement  which  the  earl  had  made  with  the  citizens. ^^ 
What  the  arrangement  was  is  not  stated ;  but  from  the  use  made  of 
it  it  seems  evident  that  the  citizens  had,  willingly  or  under  compul- 
sion, surrendered  to  Simon  the  right  to  appoint  the  mayor.  The  man 
selected  on  this  occasion  was  not  a  Bayonnese  nor  a  burgher,  but 
a  knight  of  considerable  importance,  since  he  owed  the  king  a  feudal 
service  of  three  men.^-  He  was,  also,  a  Bordelais  allied  to  Peter 
Calhau."  Doubtless  this  nomination  was  intended  as  a  slight  con- 
cession to  the  opposition,  though  his  affiliation  with  Calhau  would 
mean  that  Henry  still  relied  upon  the  popular  party  and,  perhaps,  had 
his  policy  dictated  from  Bordeaux. 

"/?.  G.,  3755.    Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  302. 

"i?.  G.,  159. 

"Balasque,  £tudes,  II,  143.  Podensac  is  appointed  in  June.  In  April 
Henry  had  appointed  a  certain  Furt  de  Urnum  whose  connections  are  entirely 
obscure  (R.  G.,  3144)- 


THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT  139 

On  his  arrival  Henry  looked  to  the  towns  for  aid  and  support 
against  his  enemy.  So  far  did  he  regard  the  municipalities  as 
friendly  that,  in  spite  of  the  protest  of  the  abbot,  he  commanded  his 
faithful  subjects  of  St.  Sever  to  elect  a  mayor  during  the  war.^* 
The  towns  of  Bordeaux,  Dax,  Bayonne  and  Bazas,  at  least,  rendered 
considerable  services  to  the  royal  cause.  Let  us  examine  briefly 
the  nature  of  these  services. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  his  campaign  Henry  called  upon  the 
towns  for  their  communal  militia  as  a  part  of  his  feudal  army.  From 
Bazas  he  demanded  300  men^^  while  Bordeaux  was  ordered  to  send 
3,000  crossbowmen  to  Rions.^''  Bordeaux,  it  is  true,  exhibited  some 
alarm  concerning  her  exemption  from  military  service  outside  the 
diocese ;  for  the  king  felt  it  necessary  to  confirm  solemnly  this  pri- 
vilege.^'^  In  spite  of  such  initial  anxieties  Bordeaux  took  part  in  the 
military  operations,  since  in  1254  Henry  found  it  necessary  to  post- 
pone the  communal  elections,  as  the  mayor,  jurats  and  the  men  of 
Bordeaux  were  then  under  arms  before  La  Reole.^^  In  addition  to 
military  aid  Bazas  and  Bordeaux  had  to  furnish  supplies  for  the 
royal  army.  At  the  same  time  that  Henry  called  upon  Bordeaux  for 
her  3,000  crossbowmen  he  also  requested  the  Bordelais  to  bring  with 
them  all  the  provisions  they  could  find  in  their  city,  which  provisions 
he  promised  to  pay  for.^^  Bazas  was  called  upon  to  furnish  wine-** 
and  to  Bordeaux  the  king  turned  for  armor,  cord,  weapons  and  other 
supplies.-^  Surely  such  assistance  both  in  men  and  munitions  of 
war  must  have  been  a  very  important  asset  for  the  royal  cause. 

"  Lettres  de  rois,  I,  121.     Pat.  Rolls,  1247-1258,  280.     Hereafter  when  the 
Patent  Rolls  are  cited  without  a  contrary  indication  this  volume  is  meant. 
"  R.  G.,  3566. 
'"R.  G.,  3564. 

"i?.  G.,  3768.    Pat.  Rolls,  303- 
'"R.  G.,  3767.    Pat.  Rolls,  303- 
"7?.  C,  3564. 
"•  R.  G.,  2745,  3609. 
"/?.  G.,  2661,  2695,  2721,  2724. 


140 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


The  southern  towns  also  rendered  vakiable  support,  though  in  a 
somewhat  different  way.  At  the  opening  of  the  campaign  their 
chief  use  seemed  to  he  in  the  annoyance  of  the  king's  enemies,  since 
in  September  of  1253  Henry  ordered  the  mayor  and  citizens  of  Bay- 
onne  to  seize  upon  all  goods  of  Gaston  of  Beam  or  of  his  subjects 
which  were  to  be  found  within  their  jurisdiction.--  In  the  next  year, 
however,  the  Bayonnese  rendered  the  king  a  much  more  important 
service.  Gaston  attempted  to  seize  Bayonne  and  introduced  some 
of  his  followers  into  the  town.  But  the  royalist  party  at  once  took 
action,  driving  out  the  Bearnese  and  punishing  the  conspirators.-^ 
Here  we  may  attempt  to  read  behind  the  scenes  a  little  and  surmise 
that  the  leader  of  the  conspiracy  was  Peter  Rosset,  the  very  man 
whom  Simon  de  Montfort  had  made  mayor,  since  we  find  him  in 
prison  in  August  of  that  year  and  only  pardoned  by  the  intercession 
of  the  king  of  Castile.-*  It  may  have  been  only  after  this  attempt 
that  Henry  named  Podensac  as  mayor  of  the  city.  If  this  be  so 
Calhau  was  still  friendly  to  Rosset  for  he  is  one  of  two  Bordelais 
to  stand  as  a  pledge  for  him,  the  other  being  Bernard  d'Alhan.^^ 

Also,  from  several  towns  Henry  obtained  considerable  sums  of 
money.  From  Andreas  de  Bilambix  of  Dax  Henry  borrowed  100 
marks  39  shillings  11  pence  during  1254.^*'  At  Bazas  he  received,  in 
the  course  of  1254,  71  pounds  Bordelais  from  Peter  de  Flus,^^  and 
at  different  times  60  marks,  20  dolia  of  wine,  and  86  pounds  11 
shillings  11  pence  from  Raymond  Markes,  mayor  of  the  city.-®  Bay- 
onne was  yet  more  liberal.  At  the  end  of  1253  Henry  had  appointed 
a  commission  to  contract  a  loan  and  sent  them  to  the  communes  of 

''  R.  G.,  2070.    Pat.  Rolls,  241. 

^  Blay  de  Gaix,  Histoire  militaire  de  Bayonne,  56. 

^R.  G.,  2985,  3954.    Pat.  Rolls,  321. 

"i?.  G.,  3925.    Pat.  Rolls,  319. 

='i?.  G.,  2323.    Pat.  Rolls,  264. 

^'  R.  G.,  261 1.    Pat.  Rolls,  295. 

*'i?.  G.,  2400,  2505,  3749.    Pat.  Rolls,  273,  284,  301. 


THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT 


141 


Bayonne,  Dax  and  St.  Sever.^^  At  Bayonne  the  commissioners 
obtained  500  marks.^"  In  addition  to  this  Henry  obtained  a  loan  of 
370  marks  2  shilHngs  4  pence  from  two  citizens  of  the  town.^^ 

Yet  Bordeaux  was  in  this  as  in  former  campaigns  the  chief  re- 
source of  the  royal  treasury,  and  favors  to  citizens  are  judiciously 
interspersed  among  the  loans.  Thus,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Gas- 
cony,  Henry  secured  W.  R.  Colom,  mayor  of  Bordeaux,  from  inter- 
ference in  regard  to  certain  mills  that  he  possessed  until  the  king's 
council  should  have  judged  the  case.-"*-  During  the  next  month 
Henry  borrowed  100  pounds  of  him.^^  The  king  arrived  in  August. 
By  November  he  owed  533  pounds  to  Arnold  Calhau,  Raymond  Mon- 
ader,  Elias  Monader  and  Raymond  Makayn  for  cloth  and  other 
goods,^*  and  had  borrowed  600  pounds  from  Elias  and  Seguin 
Barbe,^^  and  100  marks  sterling  from  Elias  Monader.^*'  In  return 
for  these  advances  Henry  had  farmed  the  small  customs  of  Bordeaux 
to  Elias  Monader,"  and  had  exempted  the  wine  of  Raymond  Makayn 
and  Peter  Calhau  from  all  dues  in  English  ports  except  the  royal 
prisage.^® 

The  most  serious  part  of  Henry's  campaign  came  in  the  first 
months  of  1254,  and  he  continued  to  borrow  extensively  from  the 
merchants  of  Bordeaux.  A  complete  enumeration  of  these  loans  is 
hardly  necessary  and  a  few  examples  will  serve  our  present  purpose. 
In  January,  February  and  April  Henry  acknowledged  debts  to  Ar- 
nold W.  Emeric  and  Raymond  Alaundi  of  over  116  marks,  received 

'^  R.  G.,  2237,  2238. 

""R.  G.,  2371.    Pat.  Rolls,  269. 

''/?.  G.,  2322.    Pat.  Rolls,  264. 

^^  Archives  de  la  Gironde,  IV,  28.    R.  G.,  2809. 

''  R.  G.,  2247.    Pat.  Rolls,  258. 

"7?.  G.,  2147.     Pat.  Rolls,  249. 

''  R.  G.,  2147.    Pat.  Rolls,  248. 

^"R.  G.,  2144.    Pat.  Rolls,  248. 

"  R.  G.,  2145.    Pat.  Rolls,  248. 

''R.  C,  2697,  2743- 


142 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


as  a  loan,  and  183  marks  for  wine  bought  for  his  use  in  England.^* 
He  also  borrowed  4CK)  pounds  from  Seguin  and  Elias  Barbe  and 
acknowledged  a  loan  by  them  of  500  pounds  to  his  seneschal/''  over 
500  pounds  from  Elias  Carpentarius,*^  and  over  500  pounds  from 
Elias  of  Blaye,*-  145  marks  from  Raymond  Monader/^  500  pounds 
from  Elias  Monader,**  and  100  marks  from  Peter  Gondemer.*^ 
There  are  records  of  numerous  smaller  loans,  among  them  several 
from  the  Colom  family.  William  Raymond  advanced  the  king  80 
marks,*^  Amaneus  advanced  25  pounds,*'^  and  Rustengo  20  marks.** 
Later  William  Raymond  advanced  57  marks  in  three  separate  loans** 
and  Rustengo  60  marks.'""  In  return  for  the  money  Henry  conceded 
a  provostship  to  Raymond  Monader,^^  and  exempted  the  wine  of 
Peter  Colom  from  all  dues  except  the  royal  prisage.^^ 

In  September  the  king,  in  a  single  charter,  acknowledged  debts 
to  various  citizens  aggregating  5,000  marks. ^^  This  money  had  been 
advanced  by  the  following  citizens :  3,300  marks  by  Peter  and  Ar- 
nold Calhau,  Seguin  and  Elias  Barbe,  Raymond  Makayn,  Elias  Car- 
pentarius  and  Raymond  Emeric,  all  wine  merchants,  and  by  Elias 
Monader,  and  Raymond  de  Camparian,  cloth  merchants ;  i  ,700  marks 
by  W.R.  Colom,  Amaneus  Colom,  Arnold  W.  Emeric,  Raymond  Mon- 

^"R.  G.,  2270.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

"'R.  G.,  2271.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

"7?.  G.,  2272.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

*"-R.  G.,  2273.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

"i?.  G.,  2274.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

**  R.  G.,  2321.  Pat.  Rolls,  264. 

"/?.  G.,  2511.  Pat.  Rolls,  285. 

'"R.  G..  2277.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

'' 7?.  G".,  2278.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

*'R.  G.,  2283.  Pat.  Rolls,  261. 

'"/?.  G*.,  2-12.  Pat.  Rolls,  285. 

""  R    G.,  2510.  rat.  Rolls,  285. 

"'  R.  G.,  2v6.  Pat.  Rolls,  265. 
''R.  G..  2955. 

■"^  R.  G.,  4302.  Pat.  Rolls,  357. 


THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT 


143 


ader,  Peter  Divac  and  William  Russinol,  all  wine  merchants,  and 
and  Peter  Gondemer,  Arnold  Bages  and  several  citizens  not  named. 
Thus  the  money  came  almost  wholly  from  the  wine  merchants  and 
very  largely  from  the  Colombine  party. 

That  such  loans  as  these  were  of  considerable  importance  in 
financing  the  campaign  of  Henry  would  seem  quite  clear.  It  would, 
indeed,  seem  scarcely  possible  that  he  could  have  made  head  against 
Alfonso's  partisans  and  finally  defeated  them  at  La  Reole  without 
the  military  and  pecuniary  support  which  he  received  from  the  towns. 
Certainly  if  the  townspeople  of  Bordeaux  and  Bayonne  had  been 
actively  hostile  his  cause  would  have  been  hopeless. 

But  if  the  townspeople,  especially  of  Bordeaux,  assisted  the  king 
loyally  they  meant  to  have  their  reward.  We  have  already  seen 
that  the  king  granted  exemption  from  duties  on  wine  to  certain  in- 
dividual citizens.  In  February  he  extended  this  privilege  to  the 
citizens  generally.  On  February  10  the  Irish  officials  are  informed 
that  the  queen  has  received  letters  from  the  king  granting  the 
concession,^*  but  it  is  not  till  February  11  that  Henry  himself  issued 
letters  patent  to  that  effect.^^  By  these  he  declares  that  in  consider- 
ation of  the  great  services  rendered  him  by  the  citizens  of  Bordeaux, 
he  exempts  their  wine,  whether  in  England,  Ireland,  Wales  or  other 
of  his  lands,  from  all  dues  or  exactions  saving  the  old  customs  due 
at  ports,  and  the  royal  prisage  of  2  dolia  from  each  ship.  He  further- 
more provides  that  there  shall  be  two  judges  to  assess  the  prisage 
without  unnecessar}^  delay,  which  delay  he  defines  as  more  than  five 
days.  These  letters  he  sealed  with  the  small  seal  which  he  had  with 
him  in  Gascony,  but  promised  to  cause  letters  to  be  issued  under  the 
great  seal  and  confirmed  by  Prince  Edward.     For  this  charter  the 

^  Cal.  of  Doc.  rel.  to  Ireland,  n-o.  314. 

^  R.  G.,  2602.  Pat.  Rolls,  294.  The  charter  is  also  contained  in  the  Livre 
des  Bouillons,  220,  where  it  is  given  in  a  confirmation  by  Richard  II.  An- 
other confirmation  is  given  in  the  same  work,  on  p.  237. 


144 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


citizens  paid  the  king  the  sum  of  2,000  marks,  though  doubtless  their 
previous  loans  did  something  toward  obtaining  it.  The  privilege 
was  therefore  one  of  great  value  to  the  wine  merchants.  Later, 
in  March,  Henry  provided  that  letters  patent  sealed  with  the  seal  of 
the  commune  of  Bordeaux  should  be  sufficient  to  secure  the  exemp- 
tion.^"^ 

A  part,  at  least,  of  the  significance  of  this  concession  is  obvious. 
The  commune  of  Bordeaux  had  rendered  and  was  rendering  import- 
ant services  to  the  king.  Partly  no  doubt  to  retain  their  loyalty 
and  to  reward  their  services,  and  partly,  as  is  obvious,  for  financial 
reasons,  the  king  extends  to  them  the  privilege.  It  is  a  plain  hint 
as  to  what  interests  were  dominant  in  the  commune — the  Colombine 
party,  be  it  remembered, — and  a  sufficiently  clear  explanation  of  the 
steadfast  devotion  of  the  Gascon  capital  to  the  English  connection. 

Over  the  details  of  Henry's  campaign  we  have  no  occasion  to 
linger.  On  his  first  taking  the  field  he  directed  his  attack  against 
the  Castle  of  Benauges.  This  taken,  he  turned  on  La  Reole,  whither 
his  worst  enemies  had  repaired.  The  siege  of  La  Reole  was  long  and 
difficult.  Indeed,  at  the  end,  the  king  did  not  win  by  force  as  much 
as  by  negotiations.  He  succeeded  in  prolonging  his  truce  with  the 
French  and  in  arranging  a  peace  with  d'Albret,  the  counts  of  Commin- 
ges  and  Armagnac,  and  with  the  viscount  of  Bearn.^'  Finally,  he 
entirely  ended  the  war  by  a  treaty  with  the  king  of  Castile,  concluded 
in  April. ^^  Prince  Edward  was  to  marry  a  half  sister  of  Alfonso, 
and  Alfonso  was  to  transfer  to  him  all  his  rights  to  the  duchy.^"  With 
this  treaty,  which  was  accompanied  by  a  pardon  to  Alfonso's  chief 
Gascon  partisans,  the  revolt  came  to  an  end,  at  least  as  an  open  war. 

^'"i?.  G.,  2464.     Pat.  Rolls,  279.     Cal.  of  Doc.  rel.  to  Ireland,  nos.  339  and 
342. 

"'Tout,  in  Hunt  and  Poole,  Political  History  of  England,  III,  73. 
^  Ibid.    Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  498f. 
"'  Tout,  Ibid.     Rymer,  Ibid.,  509. 


THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT 


145 


What  remained  was  the  task  of  settling  the  affairs  of  the  still  dis- 
tracted province. 

As  long  as  Gascony  remained  full  of  wealthy  citizens  exiled  from 
their  native  towns  there  seemed  little  prospect  of  an  enduring  peace 
Therefore  as  soon  as  his  Spanish  rival  was  disposed  of  Henr}^  under- 
took to  restore  to  the  towns  the  burghers  banished  during  the  iron 
rule  of  Simon  de  Montfort.  Prominent  among  them  were,  of  course, 
the  Solers.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Gascony,  Henrj-  had  author- 
ized Peter  Calhau  to  collect  and  keep — colligere  et  dcponerc — the 
wine  of  Gaillard  de  Soler,  but  had  forbidden  him  to  use  any  of  it 
until  he  should  receive  further  orders. *^°  Even  before  his  arrival 
Henry  had,  in  June  of  1252,  restored  their  property  to  two  of  the 
Soler  faction  whom  Simon  had  imprisoned  in  Bordeaux  without 
bringing  to  trial,  namely  Peter  Bonafus  and  Bernard  Bidau.^^ 
Whether  the  order  was  carried  out  may  be  doubted,  but  if  so,  they 
were  again  imprisoned,  for  in  June  of  1254  they  are  prisoners  of 
the  king.*'- 

By  such  measures,  small  as  was  the  benefit  to  the  Soler  party, 
the  king  intimated  to  them  that  his  disposition  was  more  conciliatory 
than  that  of  his  seneschal  had  been.  The  banished  citizens  could 
certainly  entertain  some  hopes  of  royal  clemency,  and  Gaillard  de 
Soler  met  Henry  with  a  petition  for  pardon  and  professed  his  willing- 
ness to  stand  trial  for  any  offenses  charged  against  him.  The  king 
replied  by  granting  him  a  safe  conduct. ^^  Perhaps  Gaillard  and  his 
friends  were  not  as  eager  for  a  trial  as  they  represented  or  perhaps 
their  advances  had  not  met  as  flattering  a  reception  as  they  hoped. 
At  any  rate,  during  the  revolt  they  joined  the  Alfonsists,  for  in  July 
of  1254  we  find  them  in  the  train  of  Gaston  of  Bearn*'^  and  their 
final  pardon  is  given  at  the  instance  of  the  king  of  Castile. 

""R.  G.,  2654. 

^'  Shirley,  Royal  Letters,  II,  389.    Pat.  Rolls,  159. 

''R.  G.  3314. 

'^R.  G.,  2188.    Pat.  Rolls,  252. 

""R.  G.,  3678. 


146  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

Not  all  the  members  of  the  Soler  faction,  however,  went  along 
with  the  leaders,  and  even  they  may  not  have  taken  a  very  active 
part  in  the  conflict.  At  any  rate,  some  of  their  partisans  were 
readmitted  to  Bordeaux  during  the  struggle,  for,  on  March  6,  1254, 
Henry  permitted  the  Lambert  brothers  and  certain  other  citizens  who 
had  been  banished  by  the  mayor  to  return  to  the  city,  and  even  order- 
ed his  officers  to  escort  them  there.®^ 

It  was  not,  however,  till  the  withdrawal  of  Alfonso  that  the  vSolers 
themselves  were  fully  forgiven.  On  August  4  Henry,  then  encamp- 
ed on  the  Gironde,  issued  letters  patent  extending  full  pardon  to 
Gaillard  de  Soler  and  his  friends  and  permitting  them  to  return 
freely  to  Bordeaux.  He  also  granted  them  the  restitution  of  all 
the  lands  and  possessions  which  they  had  formally  held,  except  the 
castle  of  Belin,  which  he  retained  temporarily  in  his  own  hands.^* 
But  even  this  pardon  seems  to  have  been  little  more  than  an  announce- 
ment of  policy,  and  the  Solers  do  not  appear  to  have  ventured  to 
Bordeaux ;  for,  on  August  23,  Henry  gave  them  letters  of  safe  con- 
duct permitting  them  to  come  to  him  at  that  city,*^^  where  he  then 
was.  Doubtless  the  animosity  of  the  Colombines  was  too  bitter  for 
them  to  return  except  under  the  protection  of  the  royal  presence, 
till  peace  could  be  arranged  between  the  factions.  Nor  does  their 
property  outside  the  city  seem  to  have  been  actually  restored  to 
them,  for  in  September  Henry  issued  a  series  of  orders,  one  to  the 
mayor  of  Bordeaux  directing  him  to  permit  them  to  return,"^  another 
to  the  seneschal  of  Gascony  directing  him  tO'  restore  their  possess- 
ions,*^"  and  special  orders  to  lesser  officers,  one  a  bailiff,  and  one  a 
provost,  directing  the  restoration  of  such  property  as  lay  within 
their  districts.'^"     This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  property  of 

^"■R.  G.,  2612.    Pat.  Rolls,  295. 

*'  R.  G.,  4275,  4283,  4284.    Pat.  Rolls,  350,  352. 

"/?.  G.,  3941.    Pat.  Rolls,  320. 

''R.G.,3697. 

"'R.  C,  3695- 

"  R.  G.,  3696,  3698. 


THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT 


147 


the  Soler  family  lay  mainly  in  the  district  of  Entre-deux-mers  and 
about  the  castle  of  Belin. 

To  pardon  the  Solers  was,  however,  but  the  first  step.  It  was 
imperatively  necessary  that  a  peace  should  be  arranged  between  the 
two  parties.  Very  possibly  the  Colombines  had  long  seen  that  the 
permanent  exclusion  of  their  rivals  would  be  impossible  and  were 
ready  for  peace — on  favorable  terms.  Henry  was,  moreover,  too 
deeply  in  their  debt  to  go  far  in  opposition  to  their  wishes.  When, 
therefore,  he  proclaimed  in  October  a  general  peace  and  declared  that 
it  had  been  made  by  an  agreement  of  both  parties,  he  was  probably 
well  within  the  truth.  The  peace,  he  declared,  was  made  by  the 
consent  of  the  parties  and  by  the  advice  of  his  council  and  of  the 
following  citizens:  Raymond  Brun,  the  mayor  of  Bordeaux  (doubt- 
less a  less  violent  Colombine  who  had  replaced  William  Raymond), 
Peter  de  Burdegala,  knight,  Peter  Calhau,  Bernard  d'Alhan,  Arnold 
William  Emeric,  Elias  Barbe  and  Raymond  Monader.^^  The  ab- 
sence of  the  Coloms  is  especially  striking.  Apparently  the  peace  was 
drawn  up  by  the  more  moderate  members  of  the  party.  Its  provisions 
would  certainly  seem  just  and  reasonable.  Satisfaction  was  granted 
the  Colombines  for  the  murder  of  their  mayor  William  Gondemer, 
by  the  perpetual  banishment  of  Rustengo  de  Pomeres,  who  dis- 
charged the  crossbow  by  the  bolt  of  which  the  mayor  was  killed,  and 
by  the  banishment  for  five  years  of  Peter  Bonafus  who  was  present  at 
the  time.  If  the  Colombines  suspected  others,  those  so  suspected 
should  clear  themselves  by  oath.  One  other  citizen  was  banished  for 
five  years  for  wounding  a  Colombine.  In  return,  if  the  Solers  sus- 
pected any  of  the  Colombines  of  killing  certain  of  their  partisans  those 
whom  they  accused  should  clear  themselves  by  oath.  All  other 
grievances  and  quarrels  should  be  adjusted  in  a  like  manner  and  all 
agreements  and  oaths  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  peace  were 

"/?.(;.,  4552. 


148  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

annulled.  The  mayor  and  loo  men  from  each  party  should  swear  to 
observe  the  peace  and  the  king  expressed  the  pious  wish  that  mar- 
riages might  be  contracted  between  the  two  parties  to  allay  their 
bitterness.  He  did  not  press  this,  however,  saying  that  marriage 
ought  to  be  free. 

Such  a  peace  depended  for  its  success  upon  a  reorganization  of 
the  city  government.  Accordingly,  on  the  day  before  the  drawing 
up  of  the  peace,  Henry  had  caused  14  jurats  to  be  named  in  his  pres- 
ence. The  choice  of  these  men  was,  no  doubt,  the  most  difficult  part 
of  Henry's  peace-making,  for  upon  it  hinged  the  future  government 
of  the  city.  The  jurats  thus  named  were  Gaillard  Colom,  Gaillard 
de  Soler,  W.  R.  Colom,  P.  Calhau,  Elias  Barbe,  Raymond  Monader, 
Seguin  Barbe,  Peter  Colom,  Ruffard  Lambert,  William  Arnold 
IMonader,  Raymond  Arnold,  his  brother,  Arnold  Maysent,  Arnold 
William  Emeric,  Arnold  Calhau."  It  is  evident  from  an  examination 
of  this  list  that  a  large  majority  were  engaged  in  the  English  wine 
trade  and  that  Henry  was  placing  this  interest  securely  in  power. 
No  less  than  ten  of  the  fourteen  (namely  W.  R.  Colom,  Gaillard  Col- 
om, Peter  Calhau,  Arnold  Calhau,  Elias  and  Seguin  Barbe,  Arnold 
W.  Emeric,  Arnold  Maysent,  Raymond  Monader  and  Peter  Colom) 
either  were  themselves  engaged  in  this  branch  of  commerce  or 
their  near  relatives,  often  brothers,  were  so  engaged.  Now  as 
the  jurats  chose  their  own  successors,  the  wine  merchants,  thus  se- 
curely fixed  in  power,  could  not  be  displaced  short  of  a  revolution.  As 
to  the  party  affiliation  of  the  new  officers,  there  is  somewhat  more 
of  doubt.  Yet  seven  are  certainly  chosen  from  the  Colombine 
faction  (namely  the  three  Coloms,  the  Calhau  and  the  Barbes)  while 
only  four  are  certainly  of  the  Soler  party  (namely  Gaillard  de  Soler, 
Lambert,  and  W.  A.  and  R.  A.  Monader).  Three  (R.  Monader,  A. 
Maysent  and  Emeric)  are  doubtful,  though  Maysent  probably  was  a 

"/?.  G.,  2,72^. 


THB  ALFONSIST  REVOLT  149 

Soler,  while  Raymond  Monader  and  Emeric  seem  to  have  been  at 
least  moderate  Colombines.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  Henry 
left  the  Colombines  in  power  while  admitting  some  of  the  Solers  to 
office.  If  so,  he  had  abandoned  his  former  plan  of  having  half  the 
jurats  from  each  party.  In  this  connection  the  mayors  for  the  next 
few  years  are  most  important.  Since  the  jurats  chose  the  mayor 
their  choice  would  be  indicative  of  tlieir  party  leanings.  In  the 
following  year  they  elected  Peter  Gondemer,  a  Colombine.'^  In 
1257  they  chose  Arnold  William  Emeric,  who  was  succeeded 
in  1258  by  W.  R.  Colom.  He  gave  place  to  John  Colom,  who  hand- 
ed the  office  over  to  Arnold  Calhau  in  1260,  while  Peter  Condemer 
returned  to  power  in  1261.  During  the  next  six  years,  therefore, 
no  pronounced  adherent  of  the  Soler  party  was  elected  and,  at  least, 
five  Colombine  mayors  held  office,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
sixth  was  of  that  faction.  With  such  evidence  before  us  we  may 
safely  conclude  that  Henry,  while  readmitting  the  Solers  and  giving 
them  some  representation  among  the  jurats,  yet  left  the  Colombine 
wine-merchants  in  control  of  the  commune. 

The  return  of  the  Solers  to  Bordeaux  was  naturally  accompanied 
by  the  pardon  of  the  corresponding  factions  in  other  towns.  The 
reinstatement  of  the  Bordelais  exiles  furnished  a  striking  proof  of  the 
solidarity  of  these  various  groups.  Henry  had  pledged  himself  in 
his  treaty  with  Alfonso  to  indemnify  the  citizens  of  La  Reole  for  the 
losses  they  had  suffered  during  the  war,  but  in  August,  apparently 
after  his  first  pardon  to  Gaillard  and  his  friends,  the  citizens  of  La 
Reole,  in  gratitude  to  the  king  for  the  pardon  as  they  affirm,  solemn- 
ly renounce  all  claims  to  this  indemnity."'*  Possibly  this  had  been 
one  of  the  influences  leading  to  the  pardon,  but  of  this  we  are  not 
informed.     In  any  case  the  restoration  of  the  Solers  would  seem  to 

"  He  served  as  acting  mayor  in  1253,  when  W.  R.  Colom  was  mayor, 
R.  G.,  2652. 

''*  Archives  de  la  Gironde,  VI,  163. 


I50  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

be  the  fairly  obvious  course  for  the  king.  The  reorg-anization  of 
affairs  at  I.a  Reole  was  continued  by  Prince  Edward,  who  introduced 
there  a  set  of  laws  known  as  the  new  customs,"  in  which,  among 
other  provisions,  he  confirmed  the  privileges  of  the  members  of  the 
commune  in  Bordeaux. '^'^ 

Peace  restored  on  the  Garonne,  there  remained  the  southern 
towns.  The  Ladils  and  their  faction  were  pardoned,  as  Alfonso  had 
stipulated  in  his  treaty,  and  this  probably  applied  not  only  at  La 
Reole  but  also  at  Bazas."  At  Dax  Henry  finally  extended  a  pardon 
to  William  de  Frances^^  and  doubtless  to  others  there  who  had  been 
involved  in  the  recent  disturbances.  The  conduct  of  affairs  in  Bay- 
onne  the  king  had  delegated  to  Prince  Edward  even  during  the  war. 
The  Prince  had  followed  somewhat  the  same  policy  as  that  which 
his  father  adopted  at  Bordeaux,  In  November  of  1254  he  compelled 
the  citizens  to  swear  a  solomn  peace,  pledging  themselves  to  form  no 
confraternity,  conspiracy,  or  confederation.  The  principal  leaders 
of  both  parties  were  obliged  to  sign  a  solemn  agreement.'^  To  pre- 
vent the  recurrence  of  disorder  in  the  city  Edward  assumed  the 
right  to  nominate  the  mayor,  and  for  some  time  chose  soldiers  who 
were  not  residents  of  the  town.  Thus  Bertrand  de  Podensac  re- 
mained in  office  three  years. ^"^  Probably  the  prince  or  his  delegates 
held  the  balance  fairly  even  between  the  contending  factions,  though 
very  likely  inclining  somewhat  to  the  popular  party. 

When,  in  November  of  1254,  Henry  left  Gascony  his  rule  in 
that  province  practically  terminated.  Prince  Edward  remained  in 
his  place  and  seems  to  have  continued  his  father's  general  policy. 

'^hid.,  II,  241  f. 
''"Ibid.;  see  article  38. 
"i?.  G.,  4281.    Pat.  Rolls,  351- 
"  R.  G.,  4292.    Pat.  Rolls,  353- 

'"A  copy  made  by  Balasque  is  to  be  found  in  the  Brequigny  collection, 
Archives  de  Bayonne,  Piece  IV,  f.  20.    Also  in  Rymer,  Foedera,  I,  531. 
^  Balasque,  £tudes,  II,  193. 


THE  ALFONSIST  REVOLT  151 

When,  in  1259,  Henry  concluded  a  definitive  treaty  with  Louis  IX 
the  period  of  uncertainty  and  crisis  came  to  an  end.  Hitherto  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  or  not  the  EngHsh  rule  in  the  south  should  be  main- 
tained might  be  said  to  have  been  unsettled.  The  French  government 
had  treated  John's  forfeiture  as  absolute  and  had  made  at  least  one 
serious  effort  to  enforce  the  decree  of  the  court  of  peers  in  Gascony. 
That  attempt  had  not  been  renewed,  but  it  might  have  been  at  any 
moment.  At  the  same  time,  the  claims,  good  or  bad,  of  Castile 
were  not  disposed  of  till  1254.  By  the  treaty  with  Alfonso  (in  1254) 
Henry  removed  all  danger  from  the  side  of  Spain.  By  the  treaty  of 
1259  he  secured  from  France  definite  acquiescence  in  the  English 
occupation  of  the  south. 


CONCLUSION 

What  now  are  the  general  results  of  our  survey  of  these  sixty 
years  of  Gascon  history?  Certainly,  it  seems  clear  that  it  was  the 
action  of  the  towns  that  preserved  the  English  rule.  At  no  time  did 
the  English  king  bring  a  large  English  force  to  Gascony  and  at  no 
time  could  he  rely  greatly  on  the  feudal  lords.  The  militia  of  the 
towns  formed  an  important  part  of  his  army,  their  money  financed 
his  campaigns ;  had  they  deserted  either  to  the  French  or  Spanish 
it  is  difficult  to  see  how  English  rule  could  ever  have  been  restored. 

In  Gascony  the  towns  overshadowed  the  whole  province  as  they 
did  not  in  Poitou.  Hence,  in  the  south  the  burghers  were  the  decid- 
ing factor  and  they  were  largely  swayed  by  their  commercial  inter- 
ests. Gascony  was  a  wine-producing  country  and  needed  a  market 
for  her  wine.  In  France  or  Spain  she  had  to  encounter  many  rivals ; 
England  furnished  a  market  where  she  could  hope  to  shut  out  com- 
petition to  whatever  degree  was  necessary.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
Angevins  a  large  trade  arose.  Bordeaux  was  necessarily  the  great 
center  of  this  trade  and  in  her  port  much  of  the  wine  of  the  smaller 
towns  of  Gascony  found  a  market.  From  Bordeaux  this  wine  was 
shipped,  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Bayonnese  ships,  to  England. 
Bayonne  was  thus  deeply  involved  in  the  trade  between  England  and 
Bordeaux.  The  triumph  of  France  would  have  cost  Bordeaux  her 
best  market  and  Bayonne  a  valuable  carrying  trade.  The  English 
government  must,  therefore,  be  loyally  supported.  With  these  two 
towns  loyal  the  smaller  towns  must  either  sacrifice  their  trade  in 
these  two   ports  or   follow   their  lead.     Thus   the   combination  of 


CONCLUSION 


153 


Bordeaux  and  Bayonne  could  exert  more  or  less  pressure  on  the 
other  communes,  the  amount  varying  directly  with  the  importance 
for  the  town  of  keeping  open  these  ports.  Thus  the  pressure  w^as 
strong  at  Dax  because  the  right  to  trade  freely  in  Bordeaux  and 
Bayonne  was  very  necessary  to  her ;  it  was  slight  at  La  Rochelle, 
which  did  not  depend  upon  them.  The  extent  of  English  rule  on 
the  continent  may  roughly  be  defined  as  the  radius  within  which  the 
Bordeaux-Bayonne  pressure  was  strongly  felt.  Outside  that  radius 
England  never  gained  a  durable  hold.  \\'ithin  that  radius  her  grasp 
was  strong  even  in  w'eakness.  The  smaller  towns  might  yield  for  a 
time  but  they  came  back  readily,  so  that  while  France  might  overrun 
a  portion  of  this  territory  easily  she  could  secure  no  enduring  foot- 
hold. 

That  the  towns  were  thus  the  basis  of  their  power,  both  John 
and  Henn,'-  more  or  less  clearly  realized.  Favors  to  the  town? 
were  their  constant  resource  when  hard  pressed,  privileges  and 
charters  their  chief  arms  against  invasion.  Yet  many  of  these 
privileges  were  more  than  simple  favors.  They  developed  and 
extended  that  network  of  commercial  interests  on  which  the  Eng- 
lish power  rested.  Thus  Dax  received  the  privilege  of  trading 
in  Bayonne  and  Bordeaux,  and  La  Reole  gained  valuable  exemp- 
tions in  the  latter  port.  Whether  such  favors  w^ere  granted  with- 
out thought  of  ultimate  consequences,  or  whether  the  king  in  his 
charters  deliberately  sought  to  link  the  towns  together  in  an  inter- 
dependence on  his  crown,  in  any  case,  the  result  was  the  same. 
And,  if  the  lesser  towns  were  linked  to  Bordeaux  and  Bayonne, 
these  towns  were  by  the  same  process  bound  to  England,  in  whose 
market  Bordeaux  obtained  special  privileges  for  her  wine.  A  system 
of  privileges  which  in  its  results  closely  approximates  to  the  prefer- 
ential tariff  of  to-day  united  the  scattered  realm  of  Henr)^  That 
monarch  was  consciously  or  unconsciously  building  up  a  sort  of 
imperial  Zollverein. 


154  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

The  problem  of  government  in  Gascony  was  extremely  compli- 
cated. The  towns  were,  indeed,  linked  to  England  by  their  com- 
merce but  they  had  other  interests  as  well.  Some  of  them  had  a 
large  trade  in  other  directions.  Bayonne  in  particular  had  an  ex- 
tensive commerce  with  Spain,  and  Dax  was  very  Hkely  in  the  same 
position ;  La  Reole,  and  doubtless  Bazas,  dealt  to  some  extent  with 
Toulouse  and,  probably,  with  France.  Each  of  these  towns  was, 
moreover,  torn  by  bitter  party  conflicts.  These  parties  were  much 
more  complex  than  the  usual  explanations  of  democratic  and  aristo- 
cratic factions  would  indicate.  Apparently  they  corresponded  to  a 
considerable  degree  with  the  varying  commercial  interests  that  ex- 
isted in  each  town.  Thus  at  Bayonne  the  leader  of  one  party  was 
engaged  in  Spanish  commerce  while  the  other  seems  to  have  been 
drawn  mainly  from  the  Anglo-Gascon  traders.  At  Bordeaux  the 
Colombines  were  distinctly  a  party  of  English  wine  merchants,  while 
the  Solers  were  not,  as  a  party,  deeply  interested  in  this  branch  of 
commerce. 

In  addition  to  these  varying  commercial  interests,  or  very  prob- 
ably springing  out  of  them,  were  differences  in  attitude  toward  the 
surrounding  barons.  In  a  general  fashion  those  elements  involved 
in  English  trade  stood  out  as  more  or  less  distinctly  hostile  to  the 
neighboring  lords  while  their  rivals  inclined  more  or  less  strongly 
to  an  alliance  with  them.  This  is  most  clearly  to  be  seen  at  Bord- 
eaux, where  we  have  the  fullest  information,  but  numerous  indica- 
tions point  to  the  same  conditions  in  the  other  towns. 

The  chief  towns  of  Gascony  were  not  merely  interdependent  in 
a  general  way  but  there  existed  a  striking  solidarity  between  the 
parties  in  the  different  towns.  Thus  the  Colombines  at  Bordeaux 
were  closely  affiliated  with  the  corresponding  factions  in  La  Reole, 
Bazas  and  Bayonne,  while  the  same  thing  was' true  of  the  Solers. 
In  the  midst  of  such  conditions  the  policy  of  the  English  government 
necessarily  varied.    As  the  seneschals  were  friendly  or  unfriendly  to 


CONCLUSION 


155 


the  nobles  they  supported  first  one  and  then  another  of  the  parties. 
But,  obviously,  the  English  hold  on  Gascony  depended  on  keeping  up 
friendly  relations  with  the  Anglo-commercial  party  and  keeping 
that  party  as  much  as  possible  in  power.  This  seems  to  have  been 
the  policy  of  Henry  III  himself  after  his  campaign  of  1242,  at  least 
in  Bordeaux.  It  was  systematically  the  policy  of  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort,  nor  did  Henry  attempt  to  reverse  it  after  the  earl's  fall.  It 
would  seem  then  that  in  proportion  as  the  commercial  basis  of  the 
division  grew  clearer, — for  at  first  the  party  lines  may  have  been 
much  confused, — the  English  authorities  drew  more  and  more  to  the 
Anglo-commercial  side. 

One  other  consideration  is  here  suggested.  Did  this  necessity, 
more  or  less  clearly  realized,  of  maintaining  the  Anglo-commercial 
party  in  power  exert  an  influence  on  the  form  of  government  adopt- 
ed for  the  communes?  In  Dax,  Bayonne  and  Bordeaux  the  king  set 
up  institutions  favoring  a  class  monopoly.  May  not  this  considera- 
tion have  led  to  the  creation  in  these  towns  of  communes  which 
were  close  corporations?  At  Bayonne  all  rested  on  the  hundred 
peers  and  Henry  named  them  himself  on,  at  least,  one  occasion.^  In 
Dax  he  abolished  an  older  organization  and  substituted  a  self-per- 
petuating body  of  jurats,  and  in  Bordeaux  as  well  communal  institu- 
tions centred  in  such  a  self-perpetuating  body.  Such  machinery, 
whether  or  not  consciously  designed  for  the  purpose,  was  admirably 
adapted  to  secure  the  permanent  predominance  of  a  certain  body  of 
merchants  in  the  chief  towns,  once  they  had  obtained  possession  of 
power. 

These,  then,  are  the  general  conclusions  to  which  our  study  leads 
and  some  of  the  queries  it  suggests.  Whether  the  same  points  would 
stand  out  as  equally  true  concerning  Gascony  in  the  succeeding 
years  a  study  of  these  years  alone  could  show  with  certainty,  and 

^  The  peers  seem  to  have  been  a  permanent  and  hereditary  body  though 
in  the  £tablissements  nothing  is  said  about  their  election. 


156  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

yet  the  general  policy  of  England  and  the  general  attitude  of  the 
towns  seem  based  upon  considerations  too  fundamental  to  admit  of 
any  very  large  variation.  At  any  rate,  we  have  resolved  the  ques- 
tions with  which  we  started  and  have  seen  how  and  why,  not  merely 
in  general  terms  but  in  detail,  the  Plantagenets,  John  and  Heny  III, 
were  able  to  preserve  to  their  successors  a  remnant  of  the  imposing 
continental  empire  once  ruled  by  Henry  II. 


LIST  OF  MAYORS  OF  BORDEAUX 

T'he  list  which  follows  is  based  upon  that  given  in  the  Livre  des  Cou- 
tumes.  The  list  compiled  by  O'Reilley  and  that  drawn  up  by  M.  Brutails 
from  indications  in  the  municipal  archives  have  been  carefully  compared  with 
that  of  the  Livre.  Where  the  differences  seemed  serious  they  have  been  indi- 
cated in  a  note.  Mayors  certainly  belonging  to  the  Colombines  or  Soler 
parties  have  been  marked  C  or  S. 

1208.  Peter  de  Lambert. 

1217.  Bernard  d'Acra. 

1218.  Peter  Andron. 

1219.  Bernard  d'Acra. 

1220.  W.  R.  Colom. 

1221.  Peter  Viger. 

1222.  Amaubin  d'Al'han. 

1223.  Amaubin  d'Alhan. 

1224.  Amaubin  d'Alhan. 

1225.  Amaubin  d'Alban. 

1226.  Peter  Viger.' 

1227.  Amaneus  Colom. — C. 

1228.  Alexander  de  Cambus.^ 

1229.  W.  de  Rustengo. — S. 

1230.  R.  Monader. 

1231.  Amfrac  Lambert. — S. 

1232.  Vigoros  Viger. — S. 

1233.  Gaucem  Colom. — C. 

1234.  R.  Monader. 

1235.  Peter  Calhau. — C. 

1236.  Vigoros  Viger. — ^S. 

1237.  Rustengo  de  Soler. — S. 

1238.  R.  Monader. 

1239.  Bernard  d'Alhan. — S. 

^  1226,  O'Reilley  gives  Arnaud  de  Cambis. 
^  1228,  O'Reilley  gives  William  Rostangh. 


158  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

1240.  Martin  Faure.^ — S. 

1241.  Rustengo  de  Soler. — S. 

1242.  Peter  Viger. — S. 

1243.  William  Gondemer. — ^C. 

1244.  Peter  Calliau. — C. 

1245.  'W.  R.  Colom.— C. 

1246.  John  Colom. — C. 

1247.  W.  Gondemer, — C,  and  Peter  Bonafus. — S. 

1248.  W.  A.  Monader. — ^S. 

1249.  Martin  Faure. — S. 

1250.  W.  R.  Colom.^C. 

1251.  Seguin  Barbe. — C. 

1252.  Amaneus  fils  de  P.  Colom. — C. 

1253.  Peter  Doat. — C. 

1254.  W.  R.  Colom.*— C. 

1255.  R.  Brun  de  la  Porte.'— C. 

1256.  Peter  Gondemer. — C. 

1257.  A.  W.  Emeric. — C. 

1258.  W.  R.  Colom.-^C. 

1259.  John  Colom.* — C. 

1260.  Arnold  Calhau. — C. 

1261.  Peter  Gondemer. — C. 

'  1240.  O'Reilley  gives  John  Colom. 

*  1254,  O'Reilley  gives  Raymond  Brun. 

^  1255,  O'Reilley  gives  Peter  Gondemer. 

*  1259,  O'Reilley  gives  Arnold  Calhau. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

L.  Barrau-Dihigo  has  given  a  useful  bibliography  of  Gascon  history, 
covering  documents  and  works  published  down  to  1903  :  La  Gascogue,  in  the 
Revue  de  Synthese  Historique,  VI,  182,  277;  also  issued  separately. 

DOCUMENTS 

Almost  all  the  documents  used  in  the  foregoing  study  are  in  print.  It 
would  appear  indeed  that  at  least  most  of  the  sources  of  real  importance  for 
the  subject  have  been  published.  Sudh  unpublished  pieces  as  proved  service- 
able were  found  among  the  copies  made  for  the  Thierry  collection,  now  in 
the  Fonds  Frangais  de  Nouvelles  Acquisitions,  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  The 
extensive  collection  of  copies  known  as  the  Collection  Moreau  (often  re- 
ferred to  as  the  Collection  Brequigny)  also  contains  a  considerable  number 
of  documents,  though  none  of  the  firsi:  importance  for  tllie  period  dealt  with 
in  our  study.  Search  'was  made  in  the  Public  Record  Office,  London,  outside 
of  the  patent,  charter,  and  close  rolls,  but  notliing  of  moment  discovered.  No 
use  was  attempted,  however,  of  patent,  charter  or  close  rolls  not  yet  calen- 
dared, nor  was  search  made  in  local  archives. 

The  patent,  charter  and  close  rolls  for  t3ie  reigns  of  John  and  Henry  III, 
as  published  by  the  English  government,  and  the  Roles  Gascons,  published  by 
the  French  government,  are  the  sources  of  the  greater  part  of  the  material. 
The  English  rolls  utilized  extend  from  the  first  that  are  extant  in  the  reign 
of  Jo'hn  to  varying  points  in  the  reign  of  Henry:  the  charter  rolls  from  iigg 
to  1216  and  1226  to  1257,  the  patent  rolls  from  1201  to  1258  and  the  close  rolls 
from  1204  to  1231.  The  Gascon  rolls  cover  the  years  1242  to  1243  and  1253 
to  125s  :  they  are  thus  fragmentary  because  the  term  was  used  at  first  only 
of  documents — whatever  tllieir  contents — issued  by  the  king  in  Gascony  while 
documents  concerning  Gascony  but  issued  in  England  were  entered  upon  the 
regular  rolls.    The  full  titles  of  the  volumes  of  the  rolls  used  are  as  follows: 

Rotuli  chartariim  in  Turri  Londinensi  asservati,  1190-1216.  London, 
1837.    Edited  by  Thomas  Duflfus  Hardy. 

Calendar  of  the  Charter  Rolls,  1226-1257.    London,  1903. 

Rotuli  litteraruin  patentiiim  in  Turri  Londinensi  asservati,  1201-1216, 
London,  1835.     Edited  by  Thomas  Duffus  Hardy. 


i6o  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

Patent  Rolls  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  III,  1216-1225.    London,  1901. 

Patent  Rolls  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  HI,  1225-1232.    London,  1903. 

Calendar  of  Patent  Rolls,  Henry  III,  1232-1247.    London,  1906. 

Calendar  of  Patent  Rolls,  Henry  HI,  1247-1258.    London,  1908. 

Rotuli  litterarum  clansarum  in  Turri  Londinensi  asservati.  Edited  by- 
Thomas  Duffus  Hardy.  Vol.  I,  1204-1224.  London,  1833.  Vol.  H,  1224- 
1227.    London,  1844. 

Close  Rolls  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  HI,  1227-1231.    London,  1902. 

Close  Rolls  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  HI,  1234-1237.    London,  1908. 

Roles  Gascons,  volume  I,  part  L  1243-1254,  edited  by  Francisque  Michel. 
Paris,  1885.  Volume  L  part  2,  1254-1255,  edited  by  Charles  Bemont,  Paris, 
1896 ;  contains  introduction  and  index  to  the  entire  volume. 

Calendar  of  Documents  relating  to  Ireland  in  the  Public  Record  OfUce, 
1171-1251.    London,  1875. 

Calendar  of  Documents  relating  to  Ireland  in  the  Public  Record  Office, 
1252-1284.    London,  1877. 

Calendar  of  Papal  Registers,  Papal  Letters,  vol.  L  1 198-1304.     London, 

1893. 

First  among  the  other  sources  drawn  upon  are  charters,  lists  of  mayocs, 
etc.,  to  be  found  in  the  series  of  volumes  issued  by  the  city  of  Bordeaux 
under  the  title  Archives  Municipales  de  Bordeaux,  in  7  volumes.  Of  dhief 
importance  are  the  first  two  volumes,  bearing  the  subtitles  Livre  de  Bouillons 
and  Privileges  de  Bordeaux. 

The  most  important  part  of  the  archives  of  Dax  has  been  published  by 
M.  Abbadie  under  the  title  Le  Livre  noir  et  les  £:tablissements  de  Dax,  Paris, 
1902.  This  work  forms  the  thirty-seventh  volume  of  the  Archives  historiques 
dii  Dcpartement  de  la  Gironde. 

Of  great  interest,  especially  as  showing  the  conditions  of  property,  is  the 
small  volume  of  Martial  and  Jules  Delpit,  Notice  d'un  manuscrit  de  la  Biblio- 
theque  de  Wolfenbiittel,  intitule,  Recognitiones  Feodorum.  Originally  pub- 
lished in  volume  XIV  of  the  Notices  des  Manuscrits  of  the  Academy  of 
Inscriptions  and  Belle-Lettres,  it  was  printed  separately  as  a  small  in-folio 
at  Paris  in  1841. 

Some  information  concerning  the  property  of  certain  burgbers  and  also 
concerning  the  mayors  of  Bordeaux  in  tihe  earlier  period  is  to  be  gleaned 
from  Ludhaire,  Recueil  de  Textes  de  I'ancien  dialecte  gascon,  Paris,  1861. 

Considerable  material  is  likewise  to  be  found  in  such  general  collections 
of  documents  as  Rymer  (Foedera,  conventiones,  literae,  etc.,  20  vols.  Lon- 
don, 1704-35.  References  are  to  the  original  edition),  and  Qhampollion- 
Figeac  (Lettres  de  rois,  de  reins,  etc.,  2  vols.  Paris,  1839-47).  Fagniez,  in 
his  Documents  relatifs  a  I'histoire  de  I'industrie  et  du  commerce  en  France, 
2  vols.,  Paris,  1898-1900,  has  published  at  least  one  piece  of  great  importance 
(the  "Constitutio  societatis  navium  Baionensium,"  p.  ii8f.  in  the  first  volume). 

Much  more  significant  for  our  purpose  is  the  considerable  number  of 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  i6i 

documents  concerning  Gascony  whidh  Shirley  has  included  in  his  Royal  Let- 
ters, which  work  is  one  of  the  most  important,  especially  for  the  earlier 
years  of  Henry's  reign.  It  also  includes  some  valuable  documents  concern- 
ing Mont  fort. 

Numerous  documents  for  the  period  of  this  study  have  been  published 
in  the  Archives  historiqucs  dii  Departement  de  la  Gironde,  and  a  few  in  the 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Borda. 

There  is  considerable  reference  to  Gascon  affairs  in  the  Chronica  Majora 
of  Matthew  Paris,  the  edition  here  used  being  that  by  the  Rev.  H.  R.  Luard 
in  the  Rolls  Series,  London,  1872- 1884. 

In  conclusion,  attention  should  be  called  to  the  Pieces  Justificatives 
published  by  several  writers,  especially  Bemont,  Balasque,  and  Giry,  in  the 
works  mentioned  below. 

WORKS 

For  the  general  setting  of  French  and  English  history  with  incidental 
reference  to  Gascony,  use  has  been  made  chiefly  of  Hhe  volumes  in  the 
Lavisse  Histoire  de  France,  written  by  M.  Luchaire,  forming  the  second 
part  of  volume  II  and  both  parts  of  volume  III,  published  in  1901-1902;  tlhe 
volumes  by  Adams  and  Tout  (II  and  III)  in  the  Hunt  and  Poole  Political 
History  of  England;  the  work  of  H.  W.  C.  Davis  entitled  England  under 
Normans  and  Angevins  in  the  Oman  History  of  England;  the  two  works  of 
Kate  Norgate,  England  under  the  Angevin  Kings  (2  vols.,  London,  1887), 
and  John  Lackland  (London,  1902)  ;  and  Ramsay's  The  Angevine  Empire 
(London,  1903)  and  The  Dawn  of  the  Constitution  (London,  1908). 

Gascony — 

Bemont,  C.,  Simon  de  Montfort.  Paris,  1884.  This  work  is  of  funda- 
mental importance  to  any  study  of  Simon's  rule  in  Gascony.  Preceding 
works  on  him  by  Pauli  and  Probhero  are — so  far  as  this  side  of  his  career 
is  concerned — ^practically  worthless.  M.  Bemont's  work  is  not  only  extreme- 
ly valuable  in  itself  but  it  is  extensively  documented  and  contains  numerous 
pieces  justificatives  of  the  highest  importance.  The  chapter  on  Gascony  has 
been  republished — ^with  considerable  additions — as  an  article  in  the  Revue 
historique,  IV,  241-277. 

Giry,  A.,  Les  £tablissements  de  Rouen,  Etudes  sur  I'histoire  des  institu- 
tions municipales  de  Rouen,  Falaise,  etc.  Published  in  the  Bibliotheque  de 
rficole  des  Hautes-fitudes,  fascicules  55  and  59  (1883,  1885).  Of  great  value 
for  the  study  of  those  towns  to  which  the  £tablissements  were  extended, 
namely,  Bayonne  and  the  towns  of  Poitou.  The  second  volume  is  devoted  to 
Pieces,  which  include  a  number  of  relevant  charters. 


l62  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 

Dorgan,  P.  H.,  Histoire  politique,  religieuse  et  litteraire  des  Landes. 
Auch,  1846.     Contains  nothing  of  importance  for  our  stuidy. 

Monlezun,  I'Abbe,  Histoire  de  la  Gascogne,  in  six  volumes.  Auch,  1847- 
49.  Deals  wholly  with  the  nobility  and  clergy.  Contains  little  or  nothing 
concerning  the  towns. 

Lamothe,  les  Freres,  Coutumes  dii  ressort  du  parlement  de  Guienne,  etc. 
Bordeaux,  1769.  Contains  some  interesting  information  but  little  bearing  on 
the  subject. 

Brissaud,  D.,  Les  Anglais  en  Guyenne.  L'administration  anglaise  et  le 
mouvement  communal  dans  le  Bordelais.  Paris,  1875.  The  work  was  ap- 
parently prepared  with  care.  It  is,  (however,  brief,  and  besides  containing 
little  upon  our  subject,  is  open  to  the  farther  objection  of  being  based  wholly 
upon  French  sources.  As  a  consequence  the  author  falls  into  several  im- 
portant errors  in  dealing  with  t!he  thirteenth  century. 

Bordeaux — 

Jullian,  Camilie,  Histoire  de  Bordeaux  depuis  les  orignes  justqu'en  1895. 
Published  under  the  auspices  of  the  city.  Bordeaux,  1895.  On  the  whole 
the  best  work  on  the  subject.  It  is  careful  and  fairly  detailed.  It  is  through- 
out based  on  the  documents,  mainly  the  Rolls  and  the  city  Archives.  It  is, 
however,  as  the  title  indicates,  a  general  history  and  does  not  deal  in  more 
than  a  few  sentences  of  generalities  with  the  special  questions  discussed  in 
the  preceding  pages. 

O'Reilley,  I'Abbe,  Histoire  complete  de  Bordeaux.  The  first  part  in  four 
volumes,  Bordeaux  and  Paris,  1856.  This  work,  by  a  religious,  is  the  most 
extensive  yet  published.  It  is  very  detailed  but  is  based  wholly  upon  French 
sources.  The  author's  main  interest  seems  to  center  around  the  wars  whidi 
devastated  the  country.  Ignoring  the  Rolls  he  has  little  or  nothing  to  tell  us 
which  immediately  concerns  our  subject — little  at  least  beyond  what  is  to 
be  found  elsewhere. 

Devienne,  J.  B.,  Histoire  de  la  ville  de  Bordeaux.  First  edition,  1771 ; 
a  second  edition  in  1862.  Like  O'Reilley  the  author  was  a  religious,  a  Bene- 
dictine. His  history  is  much  shorter  and  now  of  no  importance.  Practically 
everything  in  it  can  be  found  in  O'Reilley. 

Lurbe,  G.  de,  Chronique  hourdeloise ;  composee  cy-devant  en  Latin  par 
Gabriel  de  Lurbe  Advocat  en  le  cour,  Procureur  et  syndic  de  la  ville  de. 
Bordeaux,  et  par  luy  de  nouveau  augmentee  et  traduite  en  Frangois,  etc. 
Bordeaux,  1594.  This  work,  a  quarto  of  63  pages,  was  continued  and  aug- 
mented by  Darnalt:  Supplement  des  Chroniques  de  Bordeaux.  Bordeaux, 
1619.  The  sole  importance  of  this  slender  chronicle  is  thait  it  was  written 
by  one  having  access  to  the  archives  of  the  city  before  the  French  Revolution, 
during  which  a  number  of  the  manuscripts  were  destroyed.  The  work  pos- 
sesses no  serious  value  however.     The  author  adds  but  one  thing  to  our 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  163 

knowledge  of  Bordeaux  in  the  peiriod  under  consideration — and  that  is  wrong, 
as  has  been  shown  by  Rabanis  and  Sansas. 

'Michel,  Francisque,  Histoire  du  commerce  et  de  la  navigation  a  Bordeaux 
principalement  sous  I'administration  anglaise,  2  vols.  Bordeaux,  1867.  A 
careful  and  well  documented  study.  The  autflior  used  the  manuscripts  of  the 
English  Rolls  extensively. 

Malvezin,  Theophile,  Histoire  du  commerce  de  Bordeaux,  depuis  les 
orignes  justqu'd  nos  jours,  4  volumes.  Bordeaux,  1892.  The  latest  and  best 
work  on  the  subject.    A  detailed  and  in  general  accurate  survey. 

Rabanis,  J.,  Administration  municipale  et  Institutions  judiciaires  de  Bor- 
deaux pendant  le  moyen  age:  an  article  in  the  Revue  historique  de  droit 
frangais  et  Stranger,  VII  (1861).  This  was  intended  to  form  part  of  a  his- 
tory of  Bordeaux.  The  author  began  this  history  in  1835,  printing  at  Bor- 
deaux a  pampfhlet  with  th-e  title  Histoire  de  Bordeaux,  which  reached  as  far 
as  the  time  of  Caesar.  The  work  w-as  cut  short  by  the  author's  death.  The 
article  is  a  careful  study  but  treats  in  considerable  part  a  later  period. 

Sansas,  Memoire  sur  les  origines  municipales  de  Bordeaux:  in  the  Actes 
de  I' Academic  de  Bordeaux,  23  annee.  An  excellent  article.  In  general  har- 
mony with  Rabanis. 

Brutails,  J.  A.,  Contribution  a  la  chronologie  bordelaise.  Maires  et  cures 
de  Bordeaux.  Published  first  in  the  Actcs  de  I'Academie  de  Bordeaux  for 
1900  and  reprinted  as  a  pamphlet  of  27  pages  in  1902,  at  Bordeaux.  M. 
Brutails,  wlho  is  an  archivist  at  Bordeaux,  has  here  compiled  a  valuable  series 
of  indications  of  the  mayors  from  the  various  documents  in  the  Archives. 

Saint-'Georges,  Marie  de,  Recherches  historiques  sur  I'office  de  tnaire  de 
Bordeaux,  Madrid,  1783.  Has  little  concerning  the  thirteenth  century  and 
that  little  is  of  no  particular  importance. 

Baurein,  I'Abbe,  Varictes  bordelaise,  6  vols,  in-12,  1784-1786;  a  new  edi- 
tion in  1876.  A  miscellaneous  compilation  containing  much  curious  and  val- 
uable information. 

Gradis,  H.,  Histoire  de  Bordeaux.  Paris,  1888;  new  edition,  1901.  A 
short  popular  history  of  tihe  city.  No  authorities  are  cited  and  for  serious 
study  the  book  is  worthless. 

Guilhe,  Henri  Charles,  Etudes  sur  I'histoire  de  Bordeaux,  etc.  Bordeaux, 
1835.     A  rather  popular  and  very  brief  resume  of  well  known  facts. 

The  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  saw  a  number  of  works  on 
Bordeaux  none  of  which  is  now  of  either  interest  or  value.  Among  them  are 
the  works  of  Carriere,  La  Colonic,  and  Bernadau. 

Bayonne — 

Balasque,  J.,  and  Dalaurens,  E.,  £tudes  historiques  sur  la  ville  de  Ba- 
yonne, 3  vols.  Bayonn'e,  1862-1875.  Of  ail  works  on  the  subject  this  is  easily 
first.     In  comparison  with  it  t)he  other  histories  are  of  little  importance.     All 


i64  ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 

later  writers  have  based  their  works  upon  it  and  have  added  practically  noth- 
ing. It  is  based  on  the  municipal  ardliives,  which  the  authors  rescued  from 
oblivion  and  arranged  and  catalogued.  They  have  in  addition  consulted 
numerous  other  Frendi  sources  and  the  archives  of  the  Gascon  region.  Their 
chief  defect  was  their  ignorance  of  the  English  sources.  They  publish  nu- 
merous valuable  pieces  jtistificatives. 

Ciry,  A.,  Les  Institutions  viunicipales  de  Bayonne  an  inoyen  age;  an 
article  in  the  Revue  des  Basses-Pyrenees  for  1883.  Merely  repeats  what  is 
to  be  found  in  his  Btahlissements. 

Campaigne,  Bertrand,  Chronique  de  la  ville  et  dn  diocese  de  Bayonne. 
Pau,  1663.  Similar  to  de  Lurbe's  Chronicle  of  Bordeaux.  Contains  nothing 
of  particular  interest. 

Blay  de  Gaix,  le  Commandant,  Histoire  militaire  de  Bayonne.  Bayonne, 
1899.  This  work  by  a  French  officer  contains  some  interesting  material  on 
its  siubject.     Most  of  it,  however,  hardly  concerns  our  study. 

Masein,  P.,  Essai  historique  sur  la  ville  de  Bayonne.  Paris,  1792.  Deals 
mainly  with  the  ancien  regime  and  contains  nothing  of  importance  on  the 
thirteenth  century. 

Laborde,  Histoire  de  Bayonne  et  du  pays  basque.  A  popular  work  of 
little  value.  The  author's  treatment  of  the  commune  is  borrowed  from 
Balasque. 

Ducere,  E.,  Histoire  maritime  de  Bayonne.  Bayonne,  1895.  Begins  with 
the  French  occupation.  The  subtitle,  Les  corsaires  sous  I'ancien  Regime, 
describes  it  accurately  enough. 

Both  Morel,  M.  F.,  Bayonne,  vues  historiques  et  descriptives,  and  Bailac, 
J.  B.,  Nouvelle  chronique  de  Bayonne,  are  unimportant. 

Dax — ■ 

Abbadie,  Frangois,  Le  Livre  noir  de  Da.v.  The  introduction  is  the  best 
treatment  of  the  commune  yet  published.  It  was  in  part  reprinted  as  an 
article  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Borda  in  1900. 

Compaigne,  Bertrand,  Chronique  de  la  ville  et  diocese  d'Acqs.  Orthez, 
1657.     A  pamphlet  of  33  pages,  similar  to  de  Lurbe,  of  no  great  value. 

Dompnier  de  Sauviac,  A.,  Chronique  de  la  cite  et  du  diocese  d'Acqs,  3 
vols.  Dax,  1869-73.  The  largest  history  of  the  town.  It  is  fairly  documented 
but  refers  mainly  to  the  Livre  noir.  The  author  deals  at  considerable  length 
with  ecclesiastical  matters  and  has  little  on  our  subject. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  are  numerous  articles  in  the  Bulletin  de  la 
Societe  de  Borda.  Some  of  these  are  of  interest  but  few  add  much  to  wOiat 
is  found  elsewhere.     Specific  reference  to  them  is  perhaps  hardly  necessary. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  1 65 

Other  Towns — 

O'Rei'lley,  I'Abbe,  Essai  sur  I'histoire  de  la  ville  et  de  I'arrondissement  de 
Bazas,  dequis  la  conquete  des  Romans  justqu'a  la  fin  du  i8e  sie.  Bazas, 
1840.  Practically  the  only  history  of  the  town,  it  yet  contains  very  little  of 
importance  on  the  thirteenth  century. 

Gaudet,  J.,  Saint-Emillion,  son  histoire  et  ses  monuments.  Paris,  1841. 
The  work  was  crowned  by  the  Institute  and  is  of  some  importance.  Al'though 
tihe  treatment  of  the  thirteenth  century  is  very  brief,  the  author  publishes  one 
or  two  pieces  justificatives  of  interest. 

Samazeuilh,  J.  F.,  Histoire  de  I'Agenais,  du  Condomois  et  du  Bazadais, 
2  vols.  Auch,  1846-47.  Mainly  a  chronicle  of  w^ars;  contains  notlhing  of  im- 
portance on  the  comm^unes. 

Dupin,  Notice  historique  et  statistique  sur  La  Rcole.  La  Reole,  1839. 
Is  quite  unimportant. 


INDEX 


Acra,  Bernard  d',  of  Bordeaux,  may- 
or of  Bordeaux,  22  note  14;  nuncio 
of  commune,  46  and  note  34;  loans 
of,  52;  letters  of  protection  for  his 
nephews,  53;thanked  'by  king,  60; 
supports  increase  in  duty  on  wine, 
63;  loans  to  Trubleville,  /6;  acts 
as  a  hostage  for  the  Solers,  121; 
connection  with  the  wine  trade, 
125-6. 

Acria,  Jordan  d',  of  Bordeaux,  acts  as 
a  hostage  for  the  Solers,  121. 

Acrias,  family  in  Bordeaux,  125-6. 

Adour,   closed   to   Dax   by    Bayonne, 

25- 

Agenois,  march  of,  danger  to,  22. 
Alaundi,  Raymond,  of  Bordeaux,  141. 
Al'bret,  Amaneus  d',  129,  144. 
Alfonso  VIII,  of  Castile,  5,  7,  8,  9, 

54- 

Alfonso  X,  of  Castile,  claimant  of 
Gascony,  114,  132,  134,  135;  heads 
revolt  in  Gascony,  135 ;  his  partisans 
defeated,  143 ;  pardons  given  at 
his  request,  140,  143;  cedes  rights 
to  Gascony,  144;  treaty  with  Henry 
III,  149,  150,  151. 

Alfonso  of  Poitou,  son  of  Louis 
VIII,  86. 

Alfonso,  Peter,  son  of  the  king  of 
Portugal,  89. 

Alhan,  Amaubin  d',  of  Bordeaux,  40, 

47- 
Alhan,  Bernard  d',  of  Bordeaux,  85, 
127,  140,  147. 


Andron,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  22  note 

14- 
Angouleme,  28,  30. 
Angouleme,  bishop  of,  29. 
Anjou,  house  of,  ix. 
Aquelin,  Garsie,  of  St.  Macaire,  127. 
Armagnac,  count  of,  8,  144. 
Arthur,    nephew   and   rival    of   John, 

I.  4. 
Bages,  Arnold,  of  Bordeaux,  143. 
Barbe,  Elias,  of  Bordeaux,   141,   142, 

147,  148. 

Barbe,  Seguin,  of  Bordeaux,  141,  142, 
148. 

Barentyn,  Drogo  de,  seneschal  of 
Gascony,  113,  115. 

Bayonne,  commune  of,  2;  trade  with 
Castile  forbidden  to,  5 ;  treaty  with 
Navarre,  7;  support  of  John,  9; 
privileges  of,  10,  17,  27,  91 ;  com- 
mercial position  and  trade  of  ,12, 
I3>  55)  69;  privileges  of  Dax  in,  12, 
25 ;  favors  to  citizens,  14,  45 ;  royal 
grants  for  strengthening,  24,  32,  45, 
III,  112;  answer  to  complaints  of 
Dax,  27,  28 ;  comparison  with  towns 
of  Poitou,  28;  siege  of  La  Rochelle, 
43;  ships  of,  45,-  68;  castles  in 
charge  of  citizens,  49;  mala  tolta, 
50,  56;  quarrel  with  seneschal,  57; 
war  with  nobles,  57;  parties  in,  58, 
61  f.,  103,  105,  106;  confraternity  at, 
59,  103,  104,  106;  commune  collects 
farms,  72,  y2>\  difficulties  with  Bor- 


i68 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


deaux,  "j^i'y  confederations  forbid- 
den, 7^;  complaints  concerning 
diocese  of,  84;  militia  of,  87;  gal- 
leys of,  88;  citizens  paid  for  ser- 
vices, 90-91 ;  royal  letter  to  mayor 
and  galiotis,  94;  the  Hundred 
Peers,  104  f . ;  troubles  in,  104 ;  part 
in  war  with  Navarre,  112;  sene- 
schal names  mayor  in,  112,  113; 
attitude  of  citizens  toward  Mont- 
fort,  118;  companies  forbidden, 
118;  asks  Montfort's  removal,  133; 
king  names  mayor,  138 ;  supports 
king,  139,  140 ;  loan  to  king,  141 ; 
importance  of  to  Henry,  143; 
peace  imposed  at,  150. 

Bayonne,  Arnold  of,  16. 

Bayonne,  bishop  of,  8,  9. 

Bazas,  commercial  position  of,  li; 
attitude  of,  42;  held  by  French, 
48;  parties  in,  63,  123,  124;  militia 
of,  87;  centre  of  judicial  circuit, 
116;  policy  of  Montfort  in,  123, 
124,  128;  character  of  parties  in, 
127  f.;  citizens  join  revolt,  129;  king 
summons  representatives  of,  132 ; 
supports  royal  cause,  139,  140. 

Bazas,  bishop  of,  72,  76,  g2. 

Beauchamp,  Sir  Geoffrey,  67. 

Beam,  9,  12,  65. 

Beam,  viscount  of,  witness  to  char- 
ter, 8;  testifies  to  loyalty  of  Bay- 
onne, 27;  position  in  Gascony,  56; 
plunders  Dax,  114;  claimant  of 
Gascony,  114;  truce  with  Montfort, 
118;  defeat  by  Montfort,  124;  lead- 
er of  revolt,  129;  aids  rebels  in 
La  Reole,  132;  joins  Alfonso,  135; 
leader  of  Alfonsists,  136;  Bayon- 
nese  seize  goods  of  his  subjects, 
140;  attempt  to  seize  Bayonne,  140; 
peace  with  Henry,  144;  joined  by 
Solers,  145. 

Beam,  Gaston  of,  see  Beam,  viscount 
of. 


Beger,  Ruffatus,  of  Bordeaux,  60. 

Beggles,  estate  of,  7,  40,  126. 

Belin,  castle  of,  82,  123,  125,  147. 

Benauges,  136,  144. 

Beraud,  Arnold,  of  Bordeaux,  99. 

Bergerac,  51. 

Bergerac,  lord  of,  see  Riddell,  Helie 
de. 

Bernard,  William,  52. 

Bidau,  Bernard,  of  Bordeaux,  145. 

Bigorre,  count  of,  112. 

Bilarobix,  Andreas  de,  of  Dax,  140. 

Bilambiz,  Domenie  de,  of  Dax,   129. 

Bivernan,  John,  of  Bordeaux,  78. 

Blaye,   114.     Blaye,  Elias  of,   142. 

Boell,  William  de,  seneschal  of  Gas- 
cony, 113. 

Bonafus,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  76,  113, 
126,  14s,  147. 

Bordeaux,  commune  of,  under  Henry 
n,  2;  concessions  to  commune,  4; 
supports  John,  9,  16;  privileges  to 
citizens,  10,  14,  22 ;  commercial  po- 
sition of,  11-12;  privileges  of  Dax 
in,  12,  47,  84;  commune  controlled 
by  wine  merchants,  22 ;  Hubert 
asks  loan  of  24,  34;  short  wine 
casks  used  by  merchants,  25,  note 
27 ;  supports  Templars  against  La 
Reole,  25,  26,  27 ;  Gumbaud  asks 
help  of,  29;  truce  with  Hugh,  30; 
charter  of  John  confirmed,  30,  31 ; 
wine  seized  by  John,  31 ;  measures 
for  strengthening,  32,  42,  45,  46, 
112,  113;  quarrel  with  Savary,  39- 
40;  attitude  of  43,  48;  ships  of  re- 
leased,, 45 ;  letter  of  commune  to 
king,  46;  elective  ma3'or  granted, 
47;  castles  in  hands  of  citizens,  49, 
77;  closes  river  to  commerce,  49, 
note  41 ;  mala  tolta,  50,  56 ;  French 
attempt  to  gain,  51 ;  part  of,  in 
saving  English  rule,  54;  parties  in, 
59,  61  f.,  124  f. ;  riots  at,  60,  79- 
80,  120  f . ;  citizens  thanked  by  king. 


INDEX 


169 


60;  treaty  with  La  Reole,  68;  goods 
shipped    in    Bayonnese    ships,    69; 
commune    ordered   to    revoke    acts 
of  Trubleville,   71 ;  citizens   collect 
royal  revenues,  72-73;  quarrel  with 
Bayonne,  74;   men  of  Entre-deux- 
Mers  in,  74,  83 ;  Solers  dominant  in, 
74;  royal  mandate  concerning  elec- 
tions,   74;    loan    asked    from,    75; 
royal  customs  of,  82;  help  of,  ask- 
ed,   82;    avalage    of    wine    at,   83; 
militia  of,  87;  help  given  the  Eng- 
lish, 88;  threatened  by  Louis,  88; 
Henry  III  at,  89;  ships  stopped  at, 
90;  loans  to  king,  89   f . ;  privilege 
to    Bayonne   in,   91 ;    king's    landes 
of,   91,   92;   loans    from   church   to 
king,     93;     commercial     privileges 
granted  to  citizens,  94,  143  f. ;  party 
struggles  in,  97,  113,  116;  mayor  as 
arbitrator,    112;   center   of  judicial 
circuit,     116;     commune     supports 
Montfort,    122,    131;   Montfort  im- 
poses peace  at,    128-129,    I33;    citi- 
zens of,  join  revolt,  129 ;  king  sum- 
mons   representatives    from,     132; 
commune    deserts    Montfort,    133; 
king     attempts     to     mediate,     134; 
commune  warns  king,  136;  attitude 
of,  137-138  ;Colombines  in  power  at, 
138;  aid  given  the  royal  cause,  139; 
elections    postponed,    139;    import- 
ance of,  to  royal  cause,  143 ;  jurats 
named  in  royal  presence,  148;  priv- 
ileges of  La  Reole  in,  150. 
Bordeaux,  dean  of  cathedral  chapter 

at,  38. 
Bordeaux,  archbishop  of,  conduct  at 
death  of  Richard;  3;  defends  Gas- 
cony,  7,  8;  sent  on  a  mission  to 
Bayonne,  16;  mandate  of  pope  to, 
18,  19 ;  French  attempt  to  win  over, 
51,  52;  protects  Poncellis,  72;  loans 
from,  78,  83;  acts  as  arbitrator,  80; 


seneschal  of  Gascony,  84;  see  also 
Malmort,  Helie  de. 

Bordeaux,  Peter  of,  80,  136,  147. 

Bosco,  Peter  de,  of  Bordeaux,  51. 

Boulogne,  Philip  of,  66. 

Bouvines,  battle  of,  16. 

Breaute,  Faukes  de,  41,  49. 

Brittan}^  i,  66. 

Brittan}-,     count    of,     see     Mauclerc, 
Peter.  • 

Brochard,  Gerard,  master  of  the 
Templars,  25,  2y. 

Brun,  Raymond,  60,  y6,  7S1,  147. 

Brun  de  Barsac,  Raymond,  80,  81. 

Buchs,  Raymond,  76. 

Burdegala,  Peter  de,  see  Bordeaux, 
Peter  of. 

Burgh,  Hubert  de,  succeeds  William 
-Marshall,  21;  difficulties  of,  21; 
letters  of  safe  conduct  for  Borde- 
lais,  22;  measures  toward  towns, 
24;  orders  excommunication  of 
count  of  La  Marche,  38;  war 
measures  against  Louis  VHL  42; 
seeks  support  of  towns,  45;  letter  of 
Bordeaux  to,  46;  privileges  to 
towns,  47;  renewal  of  war  with 
France,  49-50,  65-66. 

Burgh,  Richard  de,  seneschal  of  Gas- 
cony, 70. 

Burgo,    Columbus    de,    of    Bordeaux, 

127. 
Calhau,  Arnold,  of  Bordeaux,  sells 
wine  to  king,  99,  100;  loans  to  king, 
lor,  141,  142;  named  as  jurat,  148; 
mayor  of  Bordeaux,  149. 
Calhau,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  stands 
pledge  for  Peter  Rosset,  63,  127, 
130,  140;  mayor  of  Bordeaux,  75, 
77,  81,  83,  97;  attacks  seneschal,  79, 
80;  ordered  to  surrender  castle,  81; 
acts  as  pledge  for  king,  89-93 ,"  con- 
nected with  mint,  92;  loans  to  king, 
93.  99,  100,  loi,  142;  connected  with 
wine   trade,    93,  99,    100,    126,    141; 


lyo 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


member  of  Colombine  party,  95; 
placed  in  charge  of  castle,  137 ;  an 
ally  made  mayor  of  Bayonne,  138; 
exemption  for  his  wines,  141 ;  cus- 
todian of  property  of  Soler,  145; 
helps  to  make  peace  at  Bordeaux, 
147;  named  as  jurat,  148. 
Cambis,  Alexander  de,  of  Bordeaux, 

59.  77- 

Cambis,  Alexander  de,  Peter  nephew 
of,  77. 

Cambus,  Raymond  de,  60. 

Camparian,  Raymond  de,  of  Bor- 
deaux, 142. 

Camparian,  Arnold  de,  121. 

Carpentarius,  Elias,  of  Bordeaux,  142. 

Castile,  Blanche  of,  53,  66,  68. 

Castile,  king  of,  claimant  of  Gascony, 
X,  114,  132,  134;  relations  with 
Gascons,  135,  140,  144,  145.  See 
Alfonso. 

Castillon,  viscount  of   89. 

Causat,  Brunus,  of  Bordeaux,  78,  81. 

Chaboneis,  Chiwardo  de,  99. 

Chaceporc,  Peter,  99. 

Champagne,  66. 

Champagne,  count  of,  see  king  of 
Navarre. 

Charente,  river,  94. 

Chastellerault,  viscount  of,  42. 

Chitre,  7,  40,  54. 

Cinque  Ports,  50. 

Colom,  Amaneus,  of  Bordeaux,  priv- 
ilege to,  6;  attests  an  act  of  John, 
15;  aided  to  collect  debt,  i5;mayor 
of  Bordeaux,  50,  59;  loans  to  Rich- 
ard of  Cornwall,  52;  debt  to  Savary 
de  Mauleon,  59;  loans  to  king,  68, 
142. 

Colom,  Gaillard,  of  Bordeaux,  makes 
purchases  at  Montpellier  for  king, 
70,  91 ;  loan  by,  to  Vivona,  72,  83 ; 
creditor  of  Trubleville,  76;  named 
as  an  arbitrator,  80;  loans  to  king, 
89,    90,    92,    93,    100,    loi ;    receives 


rent  of  king's  landes  in  payment  of 
loan,  91,  92 ;  connected  with  wine 
trade,  93 ;  possible  advantages  to, 
95;  king  cedes  revenues  to,  98;  re- 
ceives payment  in  England,  100; 
named  as  jurat,  148. 

Colom,  Gaucem,  of  Bordeaux,  83,  94. 

Colom,  John,  of  Bordeaux,  149. 

Colom,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  7;^,  76, 
142,  148. 

Colom,  Rustengo,  of  Bordeaux,  31,  52, 
142. 

Colom,  William  Raymond,  of  Bor- 
deaux, privilege  to,  6,  95 ;  mayor  of 
Bordeaux,  22,  note  14,  31,  97,  122, 
123,  138,  141,  147,  149;  loans  to 
Richard  of  Cornwall,  52 ;  arranges 
for  paying  debt  of  Amaneus  Colom, 
60;  creditor  of  Trubleville,  76;  acts 
as  pledge  for  king,  89,  93 ;  farms 
provostship  of  Bordeaux,  98;  sells 
wine  to  king,  99;  loans  to  king, 
100,  loi,  141,  142;  visits  London 
as  mayor  in  interests  of  Montfort, 
123 ;  king  protects  bis  mills,  141 ; 
named  as  jurat,  148. 

Colombines,  party  in  Bordeaux,  59; 
revolt  against  seneschal,  60;  king 
asks  loans  of,  7Z',  policy  of  Vivona 
toward,  74;  dominant  in  commune, 
75.  76,  97,  98,  113,  119,  122,  144,  149; 
hold  castle  of  St.  Macaire,  77,  82; 
secure  confirmation  of  charter,  79; 
quarrel  with  Trubleville,  79,  80; 
lose  power  in  Bordeaux,  81,  113; 
loans  to  king,  95,  96,  98  f .,  143 ; 
placed  in  power  by  Henry,  119; 
riot  at  Bordeaux,  120  f. ;  -Montfort's 
policy  toward,  121,  122;  character 
of  party,  126  f. ;  dominant  in  all 
Gascon  towns,  130;  commend  gov- 
ernment of  Montfort,  131 ;  desert 
Montfort,  133;  king  seeks  to 
mediate,  134;  loyal  to  king,  137; 
enmity   to    Solers,    146;    peace   be- 


INDEX 


171 


tween,  and  Solers,  147 ;  remain  in 
power  in  Bordeaux,  149. 

Coloms,  family  at  Bordeaux,  position 
of,  61 ;  possible  action  against  Tru- 
bleville,  71;  creditors  of  king,  95; 
reasons  for  liberality  of,  97;  con- 
nection with  wine  trade,  126;  loans 
to  king,  142;  take  no  part  in  mak- 
ing peace,  147. 

Comminges,  count  of,  144. 

Corfe,  castle  in  England,  20. 

Cristian,  Raymond,  of  Bordeaux,  60. 

Cryoyl,  Bertram  de,  94. 

Dardir,  John,  of  Bayonne,  leader  of 
one  party,  58,  62,  105 ;  forms  con- 
fraternity, 59;  party  of,  106;  named 
as  mayor  by  seneschal,  113;  be- 
comes Montfort's  adviser,  118, 
130;  heads  delegation  against  Mont- 
fort,  133. 

Dax,  under  Richard,  2;  privileges  of, 
4,  6,  15 ;  commercial  position  of, 
12;  complaints  of  Bayonne,  25,  27; 
asks  king  to  force  Neville  to  pay 
debts,  28;  compared  with  towns  in 
Poitou,  28;  favors  to  citizens,  45; 
Bordeaux  ordered  to  respect  privi- 
leges, 47,  84;  castles  in  charge  of 
citizens,  4g;commune  collects  farm, 
73;  complaints  concerning  diocese 
of,  84;  disorders  in,  103,  106,  108  f., 
118,  119,  129;  changes  made  by 
king,  106  f. ;  parties  in,  109;  first 
mayor  of,  109;  plundered  by  ntfbles, 
114;  centre  of  judicial  circuit,  116; 
measures  of  Montfort  in,  117,  119, 
129,  133;  feling  of  citizens  toward 
Montfort,  118;  Henry  summons 
representatives  of,  132;  aids  royal 
cause,  139,  140;  king  seeks  loan  of, 
141 ;  pardon  of  citizens,  150. 

Dax,  castle  of,  49. 

Dax,  bishop  of,  8,  15,  98,  106,  108. 

Daylans,  Amaneus,  60. 

Deus  Piz,  see  Piz. 


Dieppe,  merchants  of,  10. 

Divac,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  143. 

Divac,  Raymond,  of  Bordeaux,  31. 

Doat,   Peter,  of  Bordeaux,   138. 

Dordogne,  river,  11. 

Dover,  castle,  20,  94,  loi. 

Dublin,  archbishop  of,  52. 

Eborard,  Rostand,  jO. 

Edward,  Prince,  afterward  Edward 
I,  134,  143,  144,  150. 

Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  wife  of  Henry 
n,  x,  I,  3. 

Eleanor,  sister  of  John,  5. 

Emeric,  Raymond,  of  Bordeaux,  142. 

Emeric,  Arnold  William,  of  Bor- 
deaux, loans  from,  yZ'  141,  142; 
sells  wine  to  king,  142;  helps  make 
peace  in  Bordeaux,  147;  named  as 
jurat,  148,  149;  mayor  of  Bordeaux, 
149. 

Emeric,  W.  A.,  80. 

England,  revolt  of  against  John,  16; 
difficulties  of  government,  21 ;  gives 
money  for  war,  2)2),  50- 

Entre-deux-Mers,  men  of,  39,  74,  83 ; 
property  of  Solers  in,  147. 

Bfablissements  de  Rouen,  16,  104,  112, 
130. 

Farina,  castle  of,  49. 

Faure,  Martin,  of  Bordeaux,  85,  loi, 
102,  116. 

Faure,  Thomas,  son  of  Martin,  121. 

Faures,  family  in  Bordeaux,  125,  126. 

Flanders,  trade  of  Bayonne  with,  13, 
69. 

Flus,  Peter  de,  of  Bazas,  140. 

Frances,  Bernard,  of  Dax,  118,  119. 

Frances,  William  de,  of  Dax,  150. 

Fronsac,  viscount  of,  114,  122,  123, 
128,  129. 

Fronsac,  castle  of,  29,  122,   123. 

Garonne,  river,  11,  43,  49. 

Gascony,  retained  by  England,  x; 
wine  trade  of,  x,  10,  11;  develop- 
ment of  towns  under  Henry  H  and 


172 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


Richard,  2;  commercial  geography 

of,  II  f . ;  changed  province,  21,,  22; 

state  of  in  1219,  23;  sailors  of,  50; 

reasons  for  French  failure  in,  54 ; 

parties  in,  57;  disorder  in,  113  f. 
Gauler,  William,  26,  76. 
Gaveret,  Peter  de,  81. 
Gironde,  91. 
Gondemer,      Centario,      brother      of 

Peter,  91. 
Gondemer,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  king 

buys  goods  of,  91,  93;  member  of 

Colombine    party,    95 ;     mayor    of 

Bordeaux,  96,    149;   loans  to  king, 

142,  143. 
Gondemer,    William,    of     Bordeaux, 

113,  147- 

Gramont,  viscount  of,   114,   116,    117. 

Grey,  Richard  de,  114,  116. 

Gride,  Peter  Emaldi  de  la,  of  Dax, 
78. 

Guiterin,  Menaldus  de,  of  Bazas,  124. 

Gumbaud,  William,  29,  32,  82. 

Henry  II,  ix,  2,  3. 

Henry  III,  Gascony  menaced,  xi ; 
Bayonne  asks  privileges,  17;  diffi- 
culties at  his  accession,  18;  asks  re- 
sumption of  crown  lands,  38;  arbi- 
trates disputes,  39;  restrains  Bor- 
deaux, 40;  grant  to  Bordeaux,  46; 
concedes  elective  mayor  at  Bor- 
deaux, 47;  puts  castles  in  charge  of 
towns,  49;  declares  himself  of  age, 
53 ;  asks  continuation  of  mala  tolta, 
56;  suppresses  confraternity  at 
Ba}'onne,  59;  seizes  wine  of  Aman- 
eus  Colom,  59;  thanks  citizens,  60; 
provokes  war  with  France,  65-66; 
campaign  of,  66-68;  revokes  acts 
of  Trubleville,  71 ;  supports  Vivona 
with  royal  orders,  72-74;  pays  debts 
of  Trubleville,  73,  75,  78,  81,  82,  83; 
mandate  to  Bordeaux  concerning 
elections,  74;  asks  loan  of  Bor- 
deaux,   75 ;     approves    truce     with 


Navarre,  yy;  orders  Colombines  to 
surrender  castle,  yy,  81 ;  seizes  wine 
of  citizens,  78;  confirms  charter  of 
Bordeaux,  79;  commissions  arbi- 
trators in  quarrel  of  Colombines 
and  Trubleville,  80;  pardons  citi- 
zens of  La  Reole,  81 ;  orders  Bor- 
deaux to  help  seneschal,  82 ;  orders 
Solers  to  surrender  castle  of  Belin, 
82 ;  confirms  cloth  monoply  at  Bor- 
deaux, 82 ;  supports  Trubleville 
with  royal  orders,  82-84;  seeks  to 
renew  war  with  France,  86;  parlia- 
ment opposes  the  war,  87;  cam- 
paign of,  87-89 ;  loans  from  and 
favors  to  citizens,  89-95 ;  inter- 
venes in  party  strife  at  Bordeaux, 
97;  remains  in  Gascony  after  close 
of  campaign,  93 ;  loans  from  citi- 
zens, 98-100 ;reorganizes  communes 
of  Dax  and  Bayonne,  103  f.  ;returns 
to  England,  no;  strengthens  towns, 
111-113;  war  with  Navarre,  112; 
appoints  Simon  de  Montfort  sen- 
eschal, 114;  begins  to  distrust 
Montfort,  130;  renews  support  of 
Montfort,  130-131 ;  sends  commis- 
sioners to  investigate,  131 ;  aban- 
dons Montfort,  132;  summons  rep- 
resentatives of  the  towns  to  Eng- 
land, 132 ;  forbids  Montfort  to 
leave  England,  132;  attempts  con- 
ciliation in  Gascony,  134;  goes  to 
Gascony  in  person,  135,  136;  aided 
by  towns  in  Alfonsist  revolt,  139- 
144;  policy  of,  toward  Solers,  145- 
146 ;  makes  peace  at  Bordeaux,  147 ; 
has  jurats  named  in  his  presence, 
148;  restores  exiles  in  towns,  149; 
returns  to  England,  150;  treaty 
with  Louis  IX,  151. 
Honorius  III,  supports  John,  18; 
supports  Henry  III,  19;  orders 
legate  to  protect  Poitou  and  Gas- 
cony, 26;  orders  excommunication 


INDEX 


175 


of  Hugh,  38;  needs  French  help  in 
Languedoc,    41 ;     opposes     French 
conquest  in  Poitou,  48,  52. 
Huse,  Hubert,  seneschal  of  Gascony, 

84. 
Innocent  HI,  3,  26. 
Ireland,  78,  80,  143. 
Isabella    of    Augouleme,    mother    of 

Henry  III,  22,  28. 
John,  loses  northern  fiefs  but  not 
southern,  x,  xi ;  influence  of 
Eleanor,  x,  3 ;  accession,  i ;  con- 
cessions to  towns,  3,  4,  7,  8;  pro- 
vokes revolt  of  Poitou,  5;  fiefs 
declared  forfeit,  5,  13 ;  regains  Gas- 
cony from  Alfonso,  9;  truce  with 
Philip,  9;  difficulties  in  England, 
13,  14;  league  against  Philip,  14; 
campaign  in  Poitou,  14-16;  revolt 
of  English,  16;  death  of,  17;  con- 
ditions at  his  death  18;  grievances 
of  towns  against,  19;  wine  taken 
by,  paid  for,  20,  31 ;  charter  of, 
30,  31;  policy  at  invasion  of  Al- 
fonso, 45;  grant' of  Stablissements 
to  Bayonne,  104. 

Jullian,  quoted,  124. 

Knights,  wages  of,  94. 

Labourd,  region  of,  114. 

Labourd,  viscounts  of,  64,  117. 

Ladils,  Arnold  de,  of  Bazas,  124,  128. 

Ladils,   Bertrand    de,    of   Bazas,    124, 
128. 

Ladils,    Bertrand    de,    of    Bordeaux, 
128. 

Ladils,    Bertrand    de,    of    La    Reole, 
128. 

Ladils,  family  of,  150. 

Ladils,  William  Arnold  de,  of  Bazas, 
124,  127. 

La  Fave,  castle  of,  49. 

La  Lande,  Arnulf  de,  60. 

La  Marche,  count  of,  see  Lusignan, 
Hugh  of. 

Lambert,   Amfrac,   of   Bordeaux,  60. 


Lamberti,  Arnulf,  60. 

Lamberti,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  60,  121, 
146. 

Lamberti,  Ruffard,  of  Bordeaux,  146, 
148. 

Lamberts,  family  in  Bordeaux,  loi, 
125,  126,  146. 

Lambeth,  treaty  of,  20. 

Landes,  royal,  of  Bordeaux,  91,  92. 

Landiran,  lords  of,  79. 

Langon,  commercial  position  of,  11; 
in  hands  of  French,  48;  meeting  at, 
79;  militia  of,  summoned,  87;  citi- 
zens forbidden  to  take  part  in  poli- 
tics at  Bordeaux,  97. 

Languedoc,  41. 

La  Reole,  supports  John,  9 ;  privileges 
to  citizens,  10,  14,  32;  commercial 
position  of,  11,  12;  oath  exacted 
of  citizens,  14;  quarrel  with  Tem- 
plars, 25,  26,  27;  Gumbaud  asks 
help  from,  29;  citizens  restored  to, 
41;  attitude  of,  42;  submits  to 
French,  43;  in  French  hands,  48, 
49,  51;  factions  in,  6:^;  treaty  with 
Bordeaux,  68;  goods  in  Bayon- 
nese  ships,  69;  property  in,  for- 
feited, 77;  citizens  of,  banished,  79; 
citizens  of,  pardoned,  81 ;  militia 
of,  summoned,  87;  service  com- 
muted for  money  payment,  92; 
loans  from  citizens,  92;  citizens 
forbidden  to  take  part  in  politics 
at  Bordeaux,  97;  viscount  of  Gram- 
mont  imprisoned  at,  117;  citizens 
involved  in  riot  at  Bordeaux,  120, 
123,  124;  policy  of  'Montfort  in, 
123,  128,  132,  133;  character  of 
parties  in,  127  f . ;  commune  pro- 
tects merchants  of  Toulouse,   128; 

citizens  flee  to   Marmande  and  to 
Spain,     128;     citizens    join     revolt 

against  Montfort,  129,   132;  Henry 

summons    representatives    of,    132; 

center  of  Alfonsist  revolt,  136,  137; 


174 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


siege  of,  139,  143,  144;  helps  to  gain 
the  pardon  of  the  Solers,  149;  new- 
customs  at,  150. 

La  Reole,  castle  of,  51,  112,  132. 

La  Rochelle,  John  confirms  liberties 
of,  3;  Etablisseineiits  in  force  at, 
4 ;  privilege  to,  8 ;  trade  with  Bayon- 
ne,  13;  John  at,  14,  15;  Hubert 
asks  loan  of,  24,  34;  complains  of 
neighboring  lords,  27,  29;  Gum- 
baud  asks  help  from,  29;  assists  in 
making  peace,  30;  quarrel  with  vis- 
count of  Thouars,  35,  36,  37;  citi- 
zens charged  with  disloyalty,  36, 
27;  new  port  at,  41 ;  attitude  of,  42; 
siege  of,  43,  44,  46;  revenues  of 
archbishop  of  Bordeaux  at,  51  ; 
goods  stopped  on  suspicion  of  com- 
ing from,  69;  ship  bound  for  stop- 
ped, 90. 

Lart,  Gaillard  de,  of  Bordeaux,  99. 

Lebret,  Amaneus  de,  80,  89. 

Liposse,  Bernard  de,  of  Bayonne,  104, 
105,  112. 

London,  commune  of,  guarantees 
loan,  24,  34. 

Louis  Vin,  as  prince,  commands 
against  John  in  Poitou,  15 ;  expe- 
dition to  England,  16,  19,  20;  at- 
tacks Languedoc,  21 ;  danger  from, 
24,  26;  accession  of,  41;  renews 
war,  41,  42 ;  invades  Gascony,  43, 
44,  48;  captures  La  Rochelle,  44; 
returns  to  Paris,  48;  favors  to 
towns,  49;  buys  support  of  chate- 
lains,  49;  involved  in  Albigensian 
crusade,  52;  death  of,  53;  reasons 
for  failure  in  Gascony,  54;  grant  of 
Poitou  to  his  son  Alfonso,  86. 

Louis  IX,  accession  of,  53;  defeats 
Henry  at  Taillebourg,  88;  invades 
Gascony,  88;  concludes  a  truce,  89; 
treaty  with  Henry  111,  xi,  151. 

Lusignan,  Hugh  of,  count  of  La 
Marche,  loan  to  seneschal,  23 ;  har- 


rasses  Niort,  22 ;  marriage  of  with 
Isabella,  28;  quarrels  with  English, 
28,  29;  makes  peace  with  English, 
30,  38;  quarrels  with  Savary,  37, 
38,  41 ;  deserts  to  French,  41 ;  leads 
French  attack  on  Gascony,  48 ;  fails 
to  relieve  siege  of  La  Reole,  51 ; 
mandate  of  pope  to,  52,  53;  grant 
of  Niort  by  Henry,  53 ;  loyal  to 
French,  68;  quarrel  with  Alfonso, 
of  Poitou,  86. 

Macheler,  Bernard,  y6. 

Maine,  declares  for  Arthur,  i ;  con- 
quered by  Philip,  5. 

Makayn,  Raymond,  of  Bordeaux, 
loan  to  Trubleville,  y8,  81 ;  loans  to 
king,  92,  93,  99,  100,  loi,  141,  142; 
connected  with  mint  at  Bordeaux, 
92;  king  exempts  wine  of,  93,  141; 
member  of  Colombine  party,  95,  96. 

Makayn,  Raymond  Arnold,  96. 

Makayn  de  la  Ruchelle,  Arnold,  96. 

Mala  tolta,  50,  51,  56. 

Malmort,  Helie  de,  archbishop  of 
Bordeaux,  8. 

Mans,  Michael  de,  of  Bayonne,  leader 
of  a  party,  58,  105;  expelled  from 
city,  59;  Spanish  interests  of,  62; 
connected  with  the  viscounts  of 
Labourd,  64,  130;  party  of,  105,  106. 

Mansy,  act  dated  at,  15. 

Markes,  Raymond,  of  Bazas,  140. 

Marlettus,  nuncio  of  La  Reole,  27. 

Marmande,  128. 

Marshall,  William,  regent  for  Henry 
III,  18,  19,  20,  21,  25. 

Mauclerc,  Peter,  count  of  Brittany, 
50,  66. 

Mauleon,  Savary  de,  seneschal  of 
Gascony,  35 ;  loan  from  La  Ro- 
chelle, 36;  instructed  to  resume 
crown  lands,  2i^;  difficulties  of,  38, 
39;  ordered  to  restore  citizens  in 
La  Reole,  41 ;  Hubert  asks  loan  for, 
42;  besieged  in  Niort,  43;  besieged 


INDEX 


175 


in  La  Rochelle,  43 ;  deserts  English, 
^■,  relations  to  mayor  of  Bor- 
deaux, 47 ;  debt  of  Amaneus  Colom 
to,  59. 

Maysent,  Arnold,  of  Bordeaux,  loans 
from,  78,  81,  93,  loi ;  wine  of  seized, 
94 :  privilege  to,  94,  95 ;  member  of 
Soler  party,  96,  loi  note  92 ;  named 
as  jurat,  148. 

Meis,  Bernard  de,  of  Bayonne,  105. 

Menta,  P.  A.  de,  of  Bayonne,  105. 

Mente,  R.  W.  de,  of  Bayonne,  105. 

Mercato,  Rustengo.  de,  of  Bordeaux, 
89,  93,  96,   lOI. 

Mirabeau,  castle  of,  29. 

Molis,  Nicholas  de,  seneschal  of  Gas- 
cony,  no.  III,  112,  113. 

Monader,  Elias,  of  Bordeaux,  141, 
142. 

Monader,  Raymond,  of  Bordeaux, 
mayor  of  Bordeaux,  60,  68,  75, 
yy,  loans  from,  68,  72,,  141,  142; 
connected  with  mint  at  Bordeaux, 
92;  receives  a  provostship,  142; 
helps  to  make  peace,  147;  named 
as  jurat,   148,   149. 

Monader,  Raymond  Arnold,  of  Bor- 
deaux, hostage  for  Solers,  121 ; 
named  as  jurat,   148. 

Monader,  Silvester  Raymond,  of  Bor- 
deaux, hostage  for  Solers,  121. 

Monader,  William  Arnold,  of  Bor- 
deaux, brother  of  Raymond  Arnold 
Monader,  named  as  jurat,  148. 

Money,  value  of,  24,  note  20. 

Montfort,  Simon  de,  seneschal  of 
Gascony,  policy  toward  parties  in 
Gascony,  64  f. ;  citizens  oppressed 
by,  77,  78;  terms  of  appointment  as 
seneschal,  114;  policy  oi,  115; 
shows  preference  for  Colombines, 
116;  holds  judicial  circuit,  116; 
overrides  privileges  of  citizens,  117; 
temporary  success  of,  118;  meas- 
ures in  Dax,  118-119;  riot  at  Bor- 


deaux, 119  f.;  takes  hostages,  121; 
releases  Colombines,  121 ;  pro- 
scribes Solers,  122;  suppresses  re- 
volt, 122;  Solers,  etc.,  flee  to  Eng- 
land, 123;  they  are  surrendered  and 
imprisoned,  123-124;  policy  of, 
toward  parties,  123-124,  127,  128; 
imposes  peace  at  Bordeaux  and 
Dax,  128-129;  suppresses  revolt  and 
returns  to  England,  129;  names 
mayor  at  Bayonne,  130,  140;  com- 
plaints against  in  England,  130; 
overcomes  his  accusers,  131;  revolt 
in  Gascony,  131 ;  returns  to  Gas- 
cony, 132;  complaints  against,  133; 
retires  to  France,  134 ;  estimate  of, 
135-136 ;   citizens  banished  by,   145. 

Montpellier,  70,  91. 

]\Iota,  Gerold  de,  15. 

Muneer,  Raymond  de.  60. 

Munt,  Revel,  William  de,  90. 

Navarre,  12,  65 ;  treaty  of  John  with, 
5;  truce  with,  76;  war  with,  112. 

Navarre,  king  of,  count  of  Cham- 
pagne,  114,   118. 

Neville,  Geoffre}',  seneschal  of  Gas- 
cony, warns  Henry,  22;  difficulties 
of,  22;  demands  arrears  of  Bay- 
onne, 24;  goes  to  England,  26; 
debts  of,  28,  31,  2>^;  sent  to  Bor- 
deaux, 39;  ordered  to  help  Savary, 
41. 

Niort,  8,  36;  commune  receives  char- 
ter, 3 ;  difficulties  with  lords,  23, 
27;  compared  with  Dax  and  Bay- 
onne, 28;  demanded  by  Isabella,  28; 
oppressed  by  Hugh,  29;  represen- 
tatives help  in  making  peace,  30; 
asks  for  strong  seneschal,  z^;  pro- 
tests against  appointment  of  vis- 
count of  Thouars  as  seneschal,  i2>  J 
attitude  of,  42;  siege  of,  43;  ac- 
cused by  Bordeaux,  46 ;  ceded  to 
Hugh,  53. 


176 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCONY 


Oleron,  isle  of,  commune  receives 
charter,  3;  privileges  to,  8;  castle 
of,  72;  prior  of  St.  George  in,  82; 
used  as  prison,  123. 

Orthez,  viscount  of,  8. 

Otto  IV,  Holy  Roman  Emperor,   14, 

IS- 

Paris,  Matthew,  cited,  8g,  91,  98,  103, 
115,  130. 

Parthenay,  lord  of,  27. 

Peregort,  Arnold  de,  y6. 

Perer,  William  Vidou  de,  of  Bay- 
onne,   78. 

Perigord,  22,  29. 

Philip  Augustus,  ix,  i ;  recognizes 
John,  4;  conquers  John's  northern 
fiefs,  5;  forms  alliance  with  Al- 
fonso, 7;  maintains  peace,  16,  18, 
21 ;  death  of,  41. 

Pinana,  Laurens  de,  of  Bayonne,  105. 

Pins,  A.  R.  de,  of  Bayonne,  105. 

Pins,  Donatus  de,  of  La  Reole,  92. 

Pins,  family  of,  at  La  Reole,  123. 

Pins,  Raymond  de,  of  La  Reole,  7,  92. 

Pins,  Senebrunus  de,  7,  14. 

Piz,  G.  A.  Deus,  of  Bayonne,  106. 

Podensac,  Bertrand  de,  138,  140,  150. 

Poitiers,  48. 

Poitou,  lords  of,  5,  15;  conquered  by 
Philip,  7,  8;  difficulty  of  holding  by 
privileges,  11;  attacked  by  John,  14, 
15;  granted  to  Alfonso,  86;  nobles 
appeal  to  Henry,  86. 

Poitou,  archdeacon  of,  16. 

Poitou,  bishop  of,  29. 

Pomercs,  Rustengo  de,  147. 

Poncellis,  Richard  de,  71. 

Pons,  Reginald  de,  seneschal  of  Gas- 
cony,  15. 

Port,  Arnold  de,  of  La  Reole,  53. 

Port,  Raymond  de,  of  La  Reole,  53. 

Provins,  fair  at,  99. 

Puyane,  Laurentius  de,  of  Bayonne, 
105. 

Pyane,  P.  de,  of  Bayonne,  106. 


Raymond,  William,  of  Bordeaux,  52. 

Reisac,  Arnold,  of  Bordeaux,  20. 

Richard  L  i^i  xi,  i,  2,  4. 

Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  brother 
of  Henry  HL  expedition  of,  50-53; 
mala  tolta  given  to,  50,  56;  de- 
prived of  Gascony,   134. 

Ridell,  Helie,  lord  of  Bergerac,  22, 
SI,  80,  82. 

Ridell,  Geoffrey,  lord  of  Blaye,  83. 

Rions,   139. 

Rocheford,  castle  of,  72. 

Roches,  Peter  de,  65. 

Rosset,  Peter,  of  Bayonne,  Calhau 
acts  as  pledge  for,  63,  127,  130; 
loan  to  king,  92;  named  as  one  of 
Hundred  Peers,  106;  mayor  of  Bay- 
onne, 112,  130;  leader  of  'anti- 
English  conspiracy,  140. 

Royan,  87. 

Rusinol,  William,   of  Bordeaux,   143. 

Rustani,  William,  60. 

Rustengo,  William,  of  Bordeaux,  60. 

Ryon,   Bernard  de,  80. 

St.  Andrews,  chapter  of,  at  Bor- 
deaux, 92. 

Sainte  Baseille,  men  of,  letter  to 
Henry,  79,  80. 

St.   Cross,  convent  of,  at  Bordeaux, 

93- 
St.  fimilion,  commune  receives  char- 
ter, 4;  commercial  position  of,  11; 

attitude  of,  42;  submits  to  French, 

43 ;   under  French  control,  48,  49 ; 

Elias  Viger  of,  82;  militia  of,  87; 

Henry  summons  representatives  of, 

132. 
St.  George,  Peter  de,  of  Dax,  78. 
St.  George,  prior  of,  82. 
Saint  Jean,   Martin  de,   of   Bayonne, 

105. 
St.  Jean,  B.  de,  of  Bayonne,  106. 
St.  Jean-d'Angely,  commune  receives 

charter,    3;    deserts    to    Philip,    7; 

conduct  under  John,  11;  harrassed 


INDEX 


177 


by  lord  of  Parthenay,  27;  oppres- 
sed by  Hugh,  29;  representatives 
assist  in  making  peace,  30;  attitude 
of,  42;  yields  to  Louis  VIII,  43; 
accused  by  Bordeaux,  46. 

Saintes,  4,  88,  89. 

St.  Macaire,  commercial  position  of, 
II,  12;  held  by  French,  48;  castle 
of,  77,  81,  82;  militia  of,  87;  citizen 
of,  127. 

Saintonge,  29,  88. 

St.  Sever,  116,  132,  139,  141. 

St.  Sever,  Abbott  of,  139. 

St.  Severin,  church  of,  at  Bordeaux, 

93- 

Sancho,  king  of  Navarre,  7. 

Sancta  Columba,  Bonafus  de,  83. 

Sancto  Erardo,  Peter  de,  77. 

San  Sebastian,  charter  dated  at,  8. 

Saubaignac,  W.  A.  de,  of  Bayonne, 
105. 

Saubanac,  P.  de,  of  Bayonne,  106. 

Saut,  117. 

Soler,  Gaillard  de,  of  Bordeaux,  20; 
quoted,  119;  absent  at  time  of  riot, 
121 ;  refuses  to  become  a  hostage, 
122;  property  confiscated,  122,  123; 
flees  to  England,  123 ;  proscribed 
by  Montfort,  129;  joins  revolt,  129, 
145;  property  of,  145;  petitions  for 
pardon,  145;  pardon  of,  146;  nam- 
ed as  jurat,  148. 

Soler,  Peter  de,  121. 

Soler,  Rustengo  de,  imprisoned  by 
John,  19;  position  at  Bordeaux,  19, 
20;  wine  of,  seized  by  John,  20,  54; 
bailiff  of  Dax,  20,  125;  commis- 
sioned to  fortify  Bordeaux,  2>^; 
gift  of  lands  to,  53,  125;  custodian 
of  Bayonne,  57,  58,  125 ;  thanked 
by  king,  60;  connection  with  wine 
trade,  62,  125 ;  asked  to  help  sen- 
eschal, 72;  acts  as  seneschal,  75; 
loans  from,  76,  81,  89,  93,  96;  ne- 
gociates    truce    with    Navarre,    76; 


named  as  arbitrator,  80;  mayor  of 
Bordeaux,  81,  83,  85,  96;  seneschal 
of  Gascony,  85,  88,  125 ;  resigns  as 
seneschal,  97;  dispute  with  com- 
mune, 113;  warnings  brought  to, 
119;  surrenders  to  Montfort,  121; 
dies  in  prison,  122;  resume  of 
career,  125. 

Solers,  family  at  Bordeaux,  position 
of,  12;  asociated  with  nobles,  64, 
128;  hold  castle  of  Belin,  82;  con- 
nection with  wine  trade,  93;  prop- 
erty of,   146. 

Solers,  John  de,  45. 

Solers,  party  in  Bordeaux,  59,  60, 
72,  80,  83,  84,  95,  97;  dominant  in 
commune,  60,  81,  82,  113,  116;  fa- 
vored by  Trubleville,  74  ;loans  from, 
loi ;  riot  at  Bordeaux,  120  f. ;  op- 
pressed by  Montfort,  121,  122,  123; 
connection  with  wine  trade,  124- 
126;  forced  to  pay  ransom,  129; 
Henry  restores  right  of  appeal  to, 
134;  join  Alfonsist  revolt,  137;  at- 
titude of  Henry  toward,  145;  peace 
with  the  Colombines,  147;  pardon 
of,  149. 

Soule,  viscount  of,  114,  117. 

Spain,  X,  8,  10,  90,  128. 

Sturmin,  Marcus,  of  St.   Emilion,  6. 

Sycard,  William,  of  Bordeaux,  99. 

Taillebourg,  battle  of,  88. 

Talemunt,  Randolf  de,  72. 

Tartas,  viscount  of,  8,  15,  114. 

Templars,  24,  25. 

Thouars,  viscount  of,  deserts  John, 
7;  considered  for  post  of  seneschal, 
2,:i ;  quarrel  with  La  Rochelle,  35, 
2,6;  sells  himself  to  French,  41; 
towns'  fear  of,  42;  makes  truce 
with  French,  43;  mandate  of  pope 
to,  52;  loyal  to  French,  68. 

Toulouse,  21,  128. 

Toulouse,  count  of,  50,  89. 


178 


ENGLISH  RULE  IN  GASCON Y 


Trubleville,  Henry  de,  seneschal  of 
Gascony,  56;  policy  of,  57,  64; 
difificulties  with  Bayonne,  57,  58, 
59;  revolt  of  Colombines,  60;  in- 
crease in  duty  on  wine,  62;  dis- 
missed, 70;  reaction  against  'his 
policy,  71 ;  debts  of,  in  Gascony, 
73.  7Sy  78;  favors  Solers,  74;  re- 
appointed seneschal,  75 ;  policy 
foreshadowed,  76;  quarrel  with 
Colombines,  77,  79  f.,  81 ;  king 
promisses  to  repay  loans  to,  83; 
condition  of  Gascony  under,  83; 
out  of  office  and  replaced,  84;  quits 
office,  85;  referred  to,  103,  106. 

Tuscanan,  Arnold,  of   Bordeaux,  99. 

Ulcot,  Philip  d',  seneschal  of  Gas- 
cony, 2,2,  35- 

Vayres,  Amauvin  de,   114,  122. 

Vayreis,    castle   of,    137. 

Viele,  P.  A.  de,  of  Bayonne,  105. 

Viele,  Vitalus  de,  of  Bayonne,  4. 

Viele,  W.  de,  of  Bayonne,  106. 


Viger,  Boniface,  of  Bordeaux,  6z- 

Viger,  Elias,  of  Bordeaux,  grants 
and  privileges  to,  4,  6,  7 ;  attests 
act  of  John,  15 ;  dispute  concern- 
ing Beggles,  40;  loans  to  Truble- 
ville, 76,  82 ;  receives  farm  of  cus- 
toms of  Bordeaux,  82;  connection 
with  wine  trade,  126. 

Viger,  Elias,  of  St.  fimilion,  82,  see 
above. 

Viger,  Peter,  of  Bordeaux,  mayor  of 
Bordeaux,  22  note  14,  40,  47,  50. 
96,  97;  hostage  for  Solers,   121. 

Viger,  Vigoros,  of  Bordeaux,  74,  81. 

Vigers,  family  in  Bordeaux,  125,  126. 

Vivona,  Hugh  de,  seneschal  of  Gas- 
cony, 35,  70;  letter  to  king,  99; 
policy  of,  71;  difficulties  of,  72,  72)^ 
king  asks  loan  for,  72,,  75 ;  quits 
office,  75 ;  king  orders  castle  sur- 
rendered to,  77,  81. 

William  IX,  duke  of  Aquitaine,  2. 

William,  Raymond,  76. 


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